


So let's make this situation more difficult than it needs to be

by Lillabelle



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate AU, kurotsuki - Freeform, relationships, tbh this is my first fanfic I don't know what to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2018-06-04 13:10:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 26,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6659395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lillabelle/pseuds/Lillabelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsukishima wants to meet his soulmate, Kuroo on the other hand thinks that the universe can't tell him what to do.<br/>(There's a bit of Kenhina throughout the story as well at Bokuaka, but the main focus is Kurotsuki).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. So it begins

Kuroo didn't give a damn about this whole "soulmate" thing. No way in hell was he going to let the universe tell him who his soulmate was. As far as he was concerned, it was his best friend Kenma.

 

Now, Kuroo didn't like him in a romantic way. Even if most of the time your soulmate ended being your one true love or whatever, it didn't have to be romantic. Of course he never told Kenma he thought this, especially since Kenma already had his sign for his soulmate. It was a tattoo of ten small crows on his left shoulder.

 

The most annoying thing about the whole soulmate deal to Kuroo was how unique everyone's signs were. Not everyone had a tattoo, some people would see in black and white until they met their soulmate. Others could feel the emotions of their other half. He even had a friend who's soulmate apparently dyed their hair a lot because her hair had turned a new color every month or so.

 

And Kuroo might be a bit bitter that he had no sign yet at the age of 17. From studies, you usually got your sign up to a year and half before you meet them. So some babies have been born with theirs. Which seemed so unfair to Kuroo. There have been cases where people go throughout their lives without ever having a sign. Even though he didn't want a soulmate, it was just the fact that so many other already had theirs and he didn't bothered him.

 

* * *

 

 

Tsukishima on the other hand secretly couldn't wait until he found his soulmate. The idea of having someone that'd be perfect for him honestly seemed great, seeing how annoying people got. Tsukki had gotten into the habit of taking walks through popular areas in hope of coming across them, even if he didn't have his sign yet. There's been cases where only one person got the sign and the other just somehow knew that they were meant for each other. Though Tsukki couldn't understand how someone could trust another person claiming to be their soulmate without a sign.

 

He knew he was only 16 and in his first year of high school, but it still irritated him. His best friend Yamaguchi knew about this and tries to cheer him up, because hey, he hadn't gotten his sign yet either. It did make Tsukki feel better, even if he wouldn't admit it. Though that annoying goofball Hinata would ruin that sometimes by bragging about how he had his sign whenever Tsukki made a rude comment.

 

* * *

 

 

It all started when Kuroo wrote, "shut up!" On his hand to show his friend who couldn't stop laughing across the classroom. He had thrown Kuroo a pencil and he rather ungracefully missed catching it and it hit his head. With the anti-throwing things inside the classroom rule, he'd rather his friend to shut up and stop looking at him before they got in trouble.

 

Time went by when his palm started tingling. Confused, he looked down at his hand and saw, _**????**_  with an arrow pointing at where Kuroo had written shut up.

 

Tuning out his teacher, Kuroo decided to write on the back of his hand, _**Hello?**_

 

His eyes were bright with excitement and he knew he was probably smiling like an idiot. He could say he didn't care about soulmates all he wanted, but this he had to admit was pretty cool.

 

Rather quickly, a _**Hi?**_ appeared near it.

 

Now grinning, he wrote on his arm, _**What did one hat say to the other hat?**_

 

_**Please don't.** _

 

_**You stay here, I'm going on ahead!** _

 

_**...** _

 

Kuroo could hardly contain his laughter, and since he wrote too big, he had to switch over to his other arm. Writing smaller this time, _**Oh c'mon that was funny.**_

 

_**I'm taking a test in math, please stop.** _

 

The thought of messing with them was great, but he didn't want to actually mess up who ever this was school life. Kuroo wondered if they were just as excited and confused as he was. _I wonder what they look like,_ Kuroo thought, or _how old they are, what- no. Fuck you universe I don't care._ He shook his head. He decided years ago he was gonna fall into the soulmate trap. Who ever this was, they were just gonna be some sort of strange pen pal, who just so happened to have some extremely special connection to him.

 

Of course this didn't stop him from excitedly telling Kenma at lunch what happened during class. Despite Kenma being Kenma, they had sat outside for lunch. The weather was pleasantly cool and nice, until the breeze picked up too much and Kenma's hair kept getting into his face.

 

"That is pretty cool, it'll be a lot easier to find them. Much better than a tattoo that tells me nothing." Kenma sighed as he searched through his backpack for his handheld device. If Kenma thought he had enough time during lunch to finish the side quest he was on, he'd be very wrong.

 

"Ah, remember, I don't really want to find them. I could care less about it."

 

"Couldn't care less."

 

"Whatever. I'm mean, c'mon look," He lifted up one of his arms so Kenma could read it. "They didn't even appreciate my pun!"

 

"Kuro, I don't think anyone would appreciate that pun."

 

* * *

 

 

"So I'm thinking it's a guy, girls tend to have nicer handwriting right?" Tsukishima asked Yamaguchi when class was over, and once the other students had for the most part left the room for lunch. Other students stayed in the class to eat, but far enough away for Tsukki to not be bothered by people listening in. Holding up his arm, he let Yamaguchi read what was written. He rolled his eyes when Yams laughed at the pun.

 

"Maybe. Who knows." Yamaguchi leaned against the wall by Tsukki's desk. "I think you should write a pun back."

 

"Why would I do that?" Tsukishima asked with a frown. "I'd rather not encourage him and end up walking around covered in awful puns. Also why the hell was a pun the first thing he decided to write after hello?" He didn't really have anything against puns, but seriously? They just found out what their soulmate sign is, and they decided to write a freaking pun? Unbelievable.

 

Glancing towards the window, he mentally noted that it was probably going to rain judging by the darkening sky.

 

"Well think of it as a friendship building exercise," Yams suggested with a smile. "I remember you once said you wanted to fall in love with your soulmate."

 

Tsukki scoffed, "I said no such thing, shut up."

 

"I guess this makes you officially gay, huh?"

 

"Shut up Yamaguchi."

 

* * *

 

 

Once at home, Kuroo decided to have a bit of fun with his new found connection. He gave a small greeting to his mom before rushing to his room, bag dropped carelessly by his door. It took him a bit, but he eventually found a green marker. Lifting up his shirt, he made a big smiley face on his stomach.

 

Why Kuroo wanted to do that, he had no clue. But it was worth it when a _**what the hell**_  appeared on his arm.

 

Laughing, Kuroo quickly went over to the mirror in his room and put a nice mustache on his face.

 

_**You are so lucky volleyball practice is over** _

 

This actually interested him. Who ever this was played volleyball, same as him. Kuroo decided to write back after debating whether to add on cat whiskers or not, _**What position do you play?**_

 

_**Middle blocker** _

 

_**Same** _

 

**_What team do you play for?_ **

 

Kuroo was a about to say when he remembered he didn't want to meet who ever this was. He was going to have someone love him because of who he is and not some damn mark. _**Sorry to say, but I'm not giving out any personal information. I don't really care much for the whole soulmate thing.**_

 

There was no reply for awhile and he started to wonder if he made the person upset. But Kuroo felt the tingle of writing.

 

_**I can respect that, but give me a nickname to call you.** _

 

Kuroo thought for a moment, Kenma called him Kuro, and he's been dubbed at the scheming captain, but other than that he never really had a nickname. Not feeling very creative Kuroo wrote back, _**You can call me Captain. What about you?**_

 

Before writing an answer, the person drew a small unimpressed looking face, having an arrow pointing at what Kuroo had wrote.

 

  _ **I don't know, you can just call me Hotaru.**_

 

_**Hotaru it is then** _

 

* * *

 

 

Tsukishima woke up to his alarm. His back felt stiff from not sleeping in a normal position, his hand still held a marker. With a grown he stretched, his back making a satisfying cracking sound.

 

Not bothering to turn on the light in his room, Tsukishima made his way down the still dark hall to the bathroom. Flipping the light switch, he made a small noise of surprise when he saw himself. He wasn't one to really wear pajamas, but he usually wore pants. In nothing but boxers, he saw his body absolutely covered in writing. It was both his hand wrinting and "Captain."

 

Tsukki couldn't remember how late they were up talking, but judging from how much he wanted to just scream and fall back into bed, he guessed it was pretty late.

 

Getting into the shower he scrubbed away what markings he could, relieved he had used washable marker. But Captain's writing stayed much to his displeasure. With a towel wrapped around him, Tsukki went back to his room, writing _**Hey dumb ass, take a shower**_ , on his thigh once he was back in his room.

 

 _ **AAAHHHH**_ , was the reply, but within a couple of minutes, the writing went away. Thankfully, the mustache and smiley face on his stomach went away as well.

 

"Why the hell did he draw a smiley face on his stomach anyways?" Tsukishima muttered to himself. Somehow that didn't come up in his conversation last night.

 

While they gave out nothing that'd give away their identity, Tsukki learned that Captain was a third year, also has a childhood best friend, and is concerned about his everlasting bed head. A lot more was said last night, but he couldn't remember everything.

 

Tsukishima glanced at his clock, now fully dressed, he decided he had enough time to go to a convenience store before school. He needed to get some wet wipes because he felt like he's now be needing them a lot.

 

The walk helped him think. The cold morning air made him wish he'd worn something warmer, but he knew once the sun fully rose he'd be fine. Tsukishima was excited he finally had his sign, he always wondered what it'd be since it can be so diverse. Though he was more disappointed than he'd like to admit that Captain didn't even want to meet, Cap had explained it in depth at some point, something about how could we have a free will if the universe decides stuff for us. Tsukki could understand to a certain point, but steered off the topic once they got into an in depth debate about the meaning of life and their place in the world.

 

Despite the bad puns, Tsukki was pleasantly surprised the Captain was rather intelligent, being able to stand by a point and back it up whilst pointing out flaws at the opposing opinion. In general, he was glad that his soulmate was a nice guy who was smart and with a good sense of humor (sort of).

 

It took Tsukishima 5 minutes to realize he went past the store while deep in thought.

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Why are you so tired?." Kenma asked as he walked with Kuroo into the school.

 

Kuroo yawned, "What makes you ask that?" Knowing full well that his bed head was worse than usual, not to mention he'd forgotten to button up his shirt all the way, which Kenma had previously pointed out. Not waiting for Kenma to reply, he continued "I was up all night talking to Hotaru." Having a name for him felt strange.

 

"I'm guessing Hotaru is your soulmate?" Kenma asked.

 

Kuroo nodded, but then said, "Yeah," once he realized Kenma was looking down at his phone and for obvious reasons, couldn't see him.

 

"Does he know your name?" Kenma looked up from his phone.

 

"Nope. As I said, I don't want to find him, and I don't want him to find me. I just told him he could refer to me as Captain." He let out a small laugh, "didn't seem too impressed with my choice in name."

 

"For not caring about this soulmate stuff, why talk to him all night?"

 

"Because for always being on your phone, you never text me back. I wanted to talk to someone."

 

Kenma smiled a bit. "Have something interesting to say and maybe I'll reply."

  
"Hey!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit 7/2/17: For some reason my old chapter notes are gone? 
> 
> Thank you for the read! I'm currently reformatting everything. This is my first fanfic, so I didn't do too well with it ^^; 
> 
> If after a few chapters, everything's a mess, fear not, I will correct those chapters too!
> 
> Thanks again for all reads, comments, and kudos <3
> 
> Edit 1/5/17: fixing the awful punctuation in this chapter, I'll get to the rest later I swear


	2. None of this was really necessary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tsukki and Kuroo kinda get carried away.

  _ **Hey Kei, did you know rawr means I love you in dinosaur <3**_

  
Tsukki had to restrain the urge to groan. He was regretting telling Captain that he liked dinosaurs. His displeasure most have shown on his face because his teacher gave him a look, "Tsukishima, are you bored with this lesson?"

 

Before kids had the time to look at him, his face turned into a neutral look, "No, Miss. Sorry."

 

That didn't seem to be good enough, "You've been distracted since last week, mind telling me what you've been writing on your arm?" Tsukki stiffened, with the only thing on his hand being what Captain had said, he was really hoping the teacher didn't read, or worse, read it aloud.

 

"Sorry, I'll pay attention." He apologized, trying to sound a sincere as possible. The teacher gave him a warning look and went back to teaching. Tsukishima sighed quietly in relief, making a mental note to tell Captain to shut the fuck up.

 

...

 

Lost in thought he didn't realize Yamaguchi had come up beside his desk, his body slightly jolted when Yams started to laugh, "I take it he knows you like dinosaurs?"

Tsukishima let out the loud sigh he had been holding in and nodded, frowning. "At least when he finally gets past all this "universe can't decide who my soulmate is" thing, I don't think I'll ever be bored with him around." Despite all the small immature things Captain has done, he was honestly interested in meeting him and getting to know him better. Tsukki just hoped that he'd feel the same later on. Though he wasn't going to try to get Cap to cave in again, it didn't end well last time.

 

"Kinda funny how most pairs want to find each other so bad, they'd kill to have the connection you two have," Yamaguchi said, shaking his head, "you two could let each other know exactly where you are, meeting each other would be no problem."

 

"Thanks for reminding me."

 

"Sorry, Tsukki."

 

Tsukishima didn't really seem particularly bothered though, "He'll get curious eventually. Plus, we should meet within a year and a half right?" Though he knew that was more like an average, who knew how long it'd take. There was also no guarantee he'd live close enough to even meet Cap if the chance came.

 

...

 

This was too far.

  
Tsukishima realized that they did indeed get into a fight and it kind of was his fault. He went overboard and should have apologized.

 

But this.

 

Captain apparently didn't have any school today because the green mustache had returned, along with a few vulgar drawings and words. He couldn't see himself, but he could recognize what he felt being wrote to a certain degree. And Tsukki was internally horrified.

  
Cap had done it after the lunch break, leaving Tsukki no hope of escape. The second he felt the familiar tingle of Cap writing, he stiffened. "He wouldn't..." Tsukki thought, then internally groaned, because yes, he totally would.

 

He tried tried to hide his face in one hand while he raised the other, "Yes, Tsukishima?" The teacher simply glanced at him, her eyes hardly leaving the board she was writing on.

 

Though the "rawr" incident was a couple months ago, she certainly hadn't forgotten it, or all the other incidents after that. Such as the, "This is a reminder to look up some cat video, not answers to the test I'm currently taking" incident, or the "Ma'am I wish I could explain to you why there's a bunch of hearts all over my hands and wrists."

 

"May I be excused from class?" He asked as politely as he could, hoping his voice didn't giveaway how angry and embarrassed he was. Tsukishima didn't get embarrassed easily, but this was awful, especially since the other students were looking back at him and giggling.

 

"When- what in the world is on your face?" The teacher asked in surprise once she had turned completely away from the board. "I share a wonderful connection with my soulmate." His words were laced with irritation and he dropped the polite act, now scowling. Her face went from surprised to amused, but understanding.

 

"I'm guessing this is why you've been writing on your arms lately. What in the world did you do?" Tsukki simply shook his head, not wanting to say it was partially his fault. The teacher sighed and pointed to the door, "You can go to the front office, they'll let you go home." She wasn't even finished speaking when he got up out of his chair.

 

Part of him wanted to sprint of the room, but knew that would probably make him look rather lame. Yamaguchi gave him a sympathetic look as he passed his desk. Tsukki held up one to block his face from the class that looked like they were doing everything to keep themselves from laughing, but more so to cover how red his cheeks had gotten rather than the writing. He was beyond relieved when he got out, his footsteps echoing in the empty hall.

 

Captain was sure as all hell gonna pay for this.

  
...

  
Soon as he apologized for what he said to Cap last night.

 

* * *

 

 

Kuroo wasn't worried, Hotaru deserved what he got, and he even apologized after the whole face writing incident.

  
Oh how wrong of him to be hopeful.

  
Morning started out normal, waking up to his alarm blaring a song he had once loved at the beginning of the year, and then writing good morning somewhere on himself that wasn't covered in previous writing. Usually Hotaru was up before him so when no reply came, he got worried. Kuroo immediately looked to see if he had written anything that'd piss him off, but all he had really done was talk about his day, told him a bad joke he had heard, and begged him to look up a stupid fail compilation video.

  
Ok several stupid fail videos.

 

But as far as he was concerned, he had done nothing bad. Then Kuroo worried that Hotaru was getting revenge for the face writing a week or two ago, but his school uniform would cover up everything but his hands and of course his face and neck, it was nothing to worry about.

 

Hotaru had said goodnight to him, saying he couldn't stay up late due to an important test the next day. So Kuroo knew he wouldn't write anything where it'd be visible for both of them. Now he was just simply worried about the other boy much to his dismay. Kuroo never intended to become so close with some guy he never met and was a blunt asshole at times.

  
His thoughts were so clouded he almost didn't feel the tingle of a reply.

 

_**Sorry, I slept past my alarm. I feel like hell, I'm going to stay home. I'll wipe the writing off my hands.** _

 

Kuroo read it, sighing with relief. _**Hope you feel better**_ , he wrote back before getting into the shower.

 

* * *

 

It all went to hell when Tsukishima woke up in the afternoon. He felt groggy and his head felt heavy, but much better than that morning. He squinted angrily at the curtains he swore he closed, sunlight very much unwelcome. Getting up, he went to the kitchen to get some water and maybe something to eat. He had gone right back to sleep after replying to Captain, so he was quite hungry and thirsty.

 

Tsukki quickly realized that he was home alone, and Captain was at school. It was after lunch break.

 

 _Don't do this Kei_ , he thought as he headed to his mom's bathroom, "be a little more mature." He said aloud, turning on the lights, making a mental note to change the now dimming, flickering, and one out, light bulbs. Opening the mirror cabinet, he was disappointed to just see medicine. Still determined, he pulled open one of the drawers from under the sink, finding what he was looking for. His mom's make-up.

 

 _T_ _his is just a test to see if it'll appear on him_ , Was the excuse he thought of.

 

Tsukishima was genuinely curious, Cap and himself learned that not every thing would show up, such as dirt and blood (Cap had gotten a cut and smeared the blood to see if it'd show up on Tsukki. It didn't). If anyone else were here he would never do this, he'd probably die from embarrassment. In fact he wasn't even sure why he was doing this, period. There were so many ways this could, and probably would, bite him in the ass later on.

  
But, no one was here, he was too sick to think straight, and he had wet wipes to clean everything off in case someone came home early. So with that, he started with his mom's red lipstick. Tsukki smeared it sloppily on his lips, disliking the waxy feel of it.

 

It was about a minute before he got a, _**Dude what the fuck?!**_

 

Tsukki made a rather unattractive snorting noise as he laughed. Now feeling a tad more inspired, her carelessly brushed on some blue eye shadow, getting too much on the soft brush. Now his eyelashes were dusted with the blue powder, but he was too amused to care.

 

_**Kei please! What are you doing?!** _

  
This was far too much fun. He took some blush and applied it darkly to his cheeks, staring into the mirror he was more than slightly ashamed of himself, but Cap's replies turning from anger to begging more than made up enough. Just to be an ass, he got out his pen and put a "beauty mark" by his eye, quickly realizing he put it in the same spot where Suga's was.

  
Sitting around doing nothing for about 15 minutes, Tsukishima decided he had his fun and quickly took the makeup off, burying the wipes in the trash. To his slight horror, his lips were more red than usual, but he decided it could be passed off as him being sick.

  
_**Let's make an agreement to never do that again, please. They're still laughing and someone sent my best friend a picture.** _

  
_**I bet you looked fantastic**_ , Tsukki replied before making his way back to his room and promptly flopping down on his bed, the water and food he was gonna get forgotten. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, just missing Captain's reply.

  
_**Hell yeah I did. But do us both a favor and get some rest okay?** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read :D also thanks for all the kudo's and comments!  
> After this point, I haven't gone over the story as much (I've typed out 7,500+ words all together) so I'm not sure when I'll update again, but it shouldn't be too long.  
> 


	3. The side couple becomes more canon than the main

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima isn't even mentioned in this chapter whO OPS  
> But just a lot of Kuroo and Kenma, because hey, platonic relationships are just as important as romantic :D Also, Kenhina.  
> Edit: ok this needs to be explained before I'm asked again. Kuroo does and doesn't know Tsukki's first name. Kei is spelled the same way in kanji as Hotaru. Hotaru is the common way to pronounce it. So in Tsukishima's POV he reads it as Kei while Kuroo pronounces it as Hotaru. This story was originally a one shot so that would have been explained in the end. I'm really sorry for the confusion!

"That shrimp is totally your soulmate, Kenma!" Kuroo exclaimed, grinning, "Your tattoo has crows, Karasuno is referred to as crow's, not to mention there's 10 of those crows, and he's number 10!" The two were both comfortably sprawled out across Kenma's furniture. Kuroo was on the couch, lying on his side while his elbows propped him up, game controller in hand. Kenma on the other hand was sitting on the love seat, head resting on one of the chairs arm while his legs dangled off the other end. His eyes were glued onto the TV screen, also holding a controller.

 

"Knock it off, you're making a huge deal out of nothing," Kenma grumbled, but when Kuroo took the risk of taking his eyes off the TV, Kenma had a smile. Seeing Kenma happy made him smile, until his character got knocked off the map

 

"Dammit!" He cursed while Kenma let out an amused snort. It didn't take long for Kuroo to start talking again, "Nothing?" Kuroo questioned, smirk present on his face. "You text him a lot, you're comfortable talking to him in person, AND the first thing you noticed the other day when Karasuno came down for the weekend practice matches was that he wasn't with them. Even if it's not a soulmate thing-which it totally is- you still like him." He had a point and knew it.

 

But Kenma wasn't ready to give in yet, "We don't even know what Shouyou’s sign is, he could easily be number 9's soulmate. They're both clueless enough to not realize it yet."

 

"Just casually ask him over text, or," Kuroo paused the game for a moment, much to Kenma's annoyance, "take a peek during the summer training camp when he's changing." Kuroo suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

 

Kenma glared at Kuroo with red tinted cheeks, grabbing the pillow he pushed off his seat earlier and chucked it at Kuroo's face. His aim was true and hit Kuroo with a satisfying thwap sound. Crying out in false agony, Kuroo purposely slipped off the couch onto the floor, "Why have you forsaken me Kenma?" His voice raspy for dramatic affect.

 

He felt a tingle of pride when Kenma let out a laugh, "You're ridiculous, get up." Grinning, Kuroo got off the floor, picking up the pillow that hit him as he seated himself back on the couch.

 

"Anyways," Kenma said, trying to get back on topic, "I'm not just gonna look at him... Plus, you know as well as anyone else that you don't really ask people what their sign is." Kuroo could understand the last bit, it was borderline rude to ask someone what their sign was, they might not have it yet and you look really nosy.

 

"I don't think he'd mind either of my two options. If he says it's a tattoo, you could ask for a picture and get a wonderful photo of him shirtless." Kuroo said with a huge grin, eyes practically sparkling he was so amused with himself. This earned him another glare from Kenma, who threateningly picked up another pillow.

 

"Anything but the pillow!" He cried out, blocking his face with the previously thrown pillow. This close to his face he could smell the vanilla scent it had. In fact, Kenma's whole house smelled like this, even Kenma smelled like vanilla. Why was Kenma's mom so bent on making the house smell like this?

 

"You want to ask him now, don't you?" Kuroo asked, this being more important than wondering why Kenma's house smelled that way. One eyebrow raised as he peeked over his pillow.

 

"I do not."

 

"Yes you do."

 

"No I don't." And with that, Kenma threw his other pillow. Just as before, it hit and Kuroo started laughing, laughing even harder each time Kenma made his expression more exasperated. Kenma let out a small snort of a laugh as he unpaused the game, Kuroo's character quickly being overwhelmed and killed by the enemies.

 

... 

 

The next time Hinata came up, it was the next day and they were at Kuroo's place. Kuroo was on his bed, sitting up with his far too many pillows supporting his back. He was on his laptop, typing away, occasionally stopping to write something on his arm. Kenma was on the other end of the bed, leaning against the wall the bed was pushed up against, listening to music and texting. It had been at least an hour and a half since they last spoke to each other, but the silence was comfortable and needed as Kuroo typed an essay. It wasn't due until next week, but he'd rather not wait.

 

When Kenma took in a sharp breath, Kuroo looked up immediately, worried something was wrong. Kenma's eyes were widened and a small smile started to show. Curious now, Kuroo cleared his throat before talking, "Who are you texting?"

 

"Shouyou."

 

"And?"

 

"His sign is a tattoo and he just sent me a picture." Too far to reach, Kenma tossed his phone over to Kuroo who nearly missed catching it. For a volleyball player, you'd think this wouldn't be a problem.

 

Kuroo scrolled slowly, skimming over the texts. Kenma had casually brought up soulmates and eventually asked him what his sign was. Hinata said a tattoo and the next text was a picture of Hinata.

 

Had it been anyone else, the picture would have looked like a lame attempt to look muscular and cool while taking a shirtless selfie in their bathroom. But this was Hinata, he used his phone to take a picture of the mirror behind him, head slightly turned so you could see his dorky grin. More importantly, his back could be clearly seen and on his right shoulder was a calico looking cat with blotch of black on its head that faded out to brown and further a more blond-gold color. It undeniably looked like Kenma if he were a cat.

 

"I told you!" Kuroo laughed looking up to see Kenma lying on his side, hugging one of Kuroo's many pillows. "You okay there?"

 

Kenma nodded, face covered by the pillow. This made Kuroo let out another small laugh, "Are you happy?"

 

Kenma made a "mmhmm" noise as he buried his face into the pillow further, pulling in his knees up to his chest and making himself look more round.

 

"Well Pudding-head," Kuroo pushed his laptop to the side so he could lean over and ruffle Kenma's hair, "I guess you should send him a picture of your tattoo now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read :D  
> I'd like to say that when I saw the hit count at 420 I internally just went AAAYYYYE  
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments. Honestly I was expecting there to be that one person who likes my story and silence and no likes from everyone else, so I'm happily surprised.


	4. Enter Owl and emotions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have over 100 kudos holy shit. I was expecting like 15 *^* so, thank you!!!  
> I'm hesitant to write character with negative emotions because hell, I hardly understand my own. So if it seems over dramatic or anything I'm sorry.

After Kenma went home, Kuroo continued to work on his essay. That is until his screen was covered by the notification of an incoming Skype call. He didn't recognize the username, but it was easy enough to tell who it was. Kuroo accepted the call, "Not An Owl, huh? Sounds like something an owl would say." He accused, as he readjusted his position so he didn't have a double chin. Bokuto just smiled cheerfully, "What if it's a double bluff? Maybe I think you're going to assume I'm actually an owl when in fact I'm not. But maybe you think that I'm going to think that, now you're doubting yourself. Am I an owl or not?"

 

"It's a trick question. You're both, a shapeshifter." Kuroo replied with a laugh. Bokuto held his hands out in front of him, "Damn, my cover is blown." He cursed, before laughing and running his hand through his hair. It was clear he had just taken a shower, a towel rested on his shoulders, his hair was down, and stuck together in the way wet hair does. "Joking aside, how's it going man? I haven't talked to you since that weekend training camp! It's been forever!"

 

"Dude, that was literally like 5 days ago," Kuroo sighed in mock exasperation, "but yeah everything's fine. I managed to convince Kenma to talk to the person that I thought was his soulmate. Turns out I was right!"

 

"Who is it?"

 

"Can't say, that's up to Kenma," Kuroo suddenly started laughing, "the greatest thing is that when Kenma responded showing his sign, it completely went over their head. Kenma says they’ll figure it out eventually, he's just happy that he knows now."

 

"What about your soulmate, Haru?" Bokuto asked deadly serious. It didn't take long for Bokuto to start laughing with the I'm-done-with-your-shit look Kuroo gave him. "Now I know you're just messing with me!" Kuroo yelled, voice full of false rage. Bokuto has been getting Hotaru's name wrong from the beginning, "Hotaru's doing fine I guess. Right now he's sulking in his room."

 

"Why?"

 

"His older brother came home," Kuroo paused for a moment, "Well, he didn't say that. But his relationship with his brother went downhill a while ago- not sure why- and it's just the way he responds. The first few times I asked why he seemed to be in a bad mood he said his brother was home so now I can just kinda tell."

 

Bokuto was just looking at Kuroo with a stupid grin. "What?"

 

"You're so in love." Bokuto snickered.

 

Kuroo glared at him, "Am not!"

 

"Dude, you take pictures of what you two wrote and send it to me! It's the equivalent of screenshotting cute texts from your significant other!"

 

"Is not!"

 

"Is too!"

 

"You're ridiculous!"

 

"And you're in denial!"

 

Both boys jolted when a knock was heard. "Tetsurou honey can you quiet down a bit?" Kuroo's mom called from the other side of the door, "Also dinner is in 10 minutes."

 

"Sorry mom!" Bokuto apologized loudly so she could hear. A laugh was heard as she walked away. "Back to the issue at hand-" Bokuto started, lowering his voice from the shouting it was before, interrupted by Kuroo groaning. "Shut up Kuroo! ANYWAYS, you care a lot about the guy right?"

 

"Yeah, I guess."

 

"Then why is it so hard for you to accept that there is a wonderful human being that wants to be with you?"

 

"He's probably given up by now. Also can we just drop this before I hang up on you?"

 

Bokuto gave Kuroo a horrified look, "Baby please don't hang up on me! I'll change, I swear!"

 

"That's what they all say!" Kuroo covered his face with his hands and let out dramatic sobbing noises.

 

"But this is for realsies!" Bokuto protested.

 

At that Kuroo fake sobbing turned in laughter, "God what are you, 12?"

 

Bokuto looked offended, "12 and a half! God there's a difference, I'm practically a teenager now! Preteens are cool!"

 

"You're a really buff 12 year old."

 

"It's from all the kids I held upside down to shake their lunch money out of their pockets. I'm a thug.” Had Bokuto’s personality not been the equivalent of an over excited dog with mood swings, it might have been a tad more believable.

 

"Oh really? Be-" Kuroo abruptly stopped talking. He felt Hotaru respond and immediately felt relieved. Usually when he got into a slightly better mood he'd start responding again.

 

_**Sorry for not responding. Though I guess you could tell I wasn't particularly happy since you never did tell me that pun from earlier.** _

 

There was a pause before, **_Not that I want to hear it_** , appeared. Kuroo grinned and grabbed the market that was on his bed.

 

_**Hey it's no big deal, but what's it called when a girl gives you a letter?** _

 

_**Captain, what did I just say?** _

 

_**Fe-mail! Get it???** _

 

Kuroo's head snapped up when Bokuto cleared his throat. "Oh sorry Bo- I swear to god I will reach through the screen and slap that look off your face." He begun to apologize until he saw the smug look Bokuto had on his face, eyebrows raised high above his amber eyes. "I was smiling because of the pun I wrote not because of Hotaru!"

 

 

"Your eyes lit up when the writing appeared. It was kinda cute to be honest."

 

"That's it! I'm breaking up with you!" Kuroo ended the Skype call.

 

Last thing he head was Bokuto going, "NOOO!" As he cracked up. He felt his phone buzz as he got a new text. Not bothering to check it, he got off his bed and went to the kitchen hoping dinner was ready.

 

* * *

 

  
Tsukishima was not in a good mood. School had been awful, volleyball practice that day had been especially annoying, it started raining on the way home (and of course! He had no umbrella), and his brother was home. If Tsukki was in a bad mood yesterday, he was even more so now. Now he laid he laid in bed with the lights off, sulking and listening to music.

 

When he felt the tingle of writing, he ignored it. Tsukishima simply was not in the mood for Captain's antics. After a few minutes he felt the writing again, and again even later. Sighing he looked at his arm, using the glow from his phone's screen to see the writing.

 

_**So today I got a hundred on a test :D** _

 

_**What happened today with you?** _

 

_**Kei? Are you okay?** _

 

Not really wanting to talk, he wrote back a simple, _**Yeah, I'm fine**_.

 

There was no response for a while.

 

 _ **Well, now that I know you're not okay I'll leave you alone for a bit, unless you want to talk**_.

 

Tsukki didn't and wrote nothing back. He did not feel too guilty about it, around this time Captain was usually hanging out with his best friend. A smile formed a bit when he thought about how excited Cap had been when his friend found his soulmate.

 

The thought stung a little though. He still hoped Cap would come around. It's not like Tsukki had given up, he'd drop hints at revealing identities, “accidentally” said where he was going to be, and even full on said he wanted to meet. Every time Captain brushed it off, usually saying a joke in an attempt to not make the situation awkward. Tsukki couldn't deny the bitterness over that was building up.

 

Why wouldn't Cap give him a chance if he saw how happy his friends were with their soulmates? It made Tsukki wonder if he just talked to him out of boredom rather than any feelings of friendship or connection.

 

The whole situation was extremely frustrating to Tsukishima. He got even more upset when his eyes watered up a bit, they weren't from sadness, rather those annoying tears that appear when you're angry and frustrated. He just quickly wiped his eyes on the back of his hands and told himself to calm down.

 

_**Kei please talk to me. I'm really concerned now.** _

 

Tsukki was confused for a moment until he realized that wiping his eyes had blurred some of the writing on his hands. Quickly getting up, he turned on his lights and looked into his mirror. To top it off, some of the marker had come off around his eyes. Tsukki quickly wiped off the marker streaks from his face.

 

He was already angry at the fact that a few tears actually managed to come out and now he was even more angry at the fact that now someone else knew.

 

_**I know you're not okay and you don't want to talk, but please.** _

 

 _ **Just momentarily overwhelmed. I'm fine**_ , Or at least he would be.

 

_**If someone like you could get overwhelmed to the point of tears, I'm certainly very concerned and very sure you're not fine.** _

 

Tsukishima bit his bottom lip, debating on whether or not that he should talk to him.

 

_**Does it have anything to do with your brother?** _

 

_**Partially. It's just a build up of things that I'd rather not write out in case someone comes into my room. It's bad enough that you know I'm upset much less my family.** _

 

There was no reply for a moment. Tsukki started to assume that Captain had given up on him when a phone number appeared on his arm

 

**_Text me_ **

 

Jokes, the face writing incident, and gross TMI moments had never made Tsukki feel as surprised as he felt now. Hell, nothing recently had gotten this much emotion out of him. He was surprised Captain had actually given up his number, as well as stupidly happy, angry that such a thing as a guy giving him his number made him happy, and hope that maybe Captain was starting to let up. Though the underlying bitterness was still there, it was momentarily covered up by what Tsukishima was feeling now.

 

Snapping out of his thoughts he quickly texted the number.

 

 **Kei:** Thanks

 

 **Captain:** No problem, talk to me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this point on I really rushed the ending my first time through so I'm gonna have to unrush all that, it's not even the ending anymore *^*  
> So updates might not be as frequent (though knowing me I'll probably update again sometime this week)


	5. Well damn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this kind of late, so sorry if I missed any mistakes. If you spot any (like I realized earlier I used where instead of wear), feel free to point them out.  
> There's been too much Kuroo POV ^^; I promise I'll try to even that out a bit.

Why the stubborn blond from Karasuno stuck out so much to Kuroo, he didn't know. After spending a lot of time with him throughout the week, just certain things about him Kuroo really liked. Sure Tsukishima could be a bit too blunt, uninspired, and a jerk, but there was something about about him from the time Kuroo first saw him at the practice match and so on that he was drawn to. He assumed it was because he was the tallest person on the team and rather attractive. But as he got to know Tsukki, he realized he was a lot like Hotaru. He even half-hoped it was, but after hearing his first name was Kei, he couldn't imagine why he'd use Hotaru as a nickname.

 

Kuroo quickly regretted saying he noticed similarities between Tsukishima and Hotaru to Bokuto. It was getting late and most people had gone to bed, and yet these two were still in the gym, lying on the ground face up.

 

Why?

 

They weren't quite sure.

 

"What if he is Hotaru?" Bokuto jokingly said, which Kuroo immediately snorted, "As if the universe would give me such a beautiful person."

 

"Hotaru could be like, a model for all you know."

 

"He's a high school volleyball player, doubt it."

 

"What if he's just a teen model for volleyball magazines?"

 

Kuroo wanted to laugh, but Bokuto's expression made it clear he thought it a genuine option. "Nah, don't models regardless of gender where make-up? And I highly doubt he's the same skin tone me."

 

"I don't know, he did a stellar job on the make-up that one time." Bokuto snickered while Kuroo groaned, "We don't speak about that. Who even sent you the photo?"

 

"Kenma."

 

"God dammit Kenma." He cursed half-heartedly. Bokuto would have seen the photo whether or not Kenma sent it to him, hell Kuroo himself probably would've sent it to him eventually.

 

"You should totally send it to Haru."

 

"Why do you do this to me?" Kuroo sighed, "Name aside, that would kind of give away who I am. He could know me, or at least know my face."

 

"What are you so worried about?" Bokuto asked, "Are you afraid he's catfishing you and he's not really your soulmate? Because I find it hard to believe at this point that your still not dying to meet him."

 

"I'm not worried, I just don't-"

 

"Do not give me that, "Universe can't decide for me" bullshit because I know you don't believe in it anymore. Be honest with me before a punch you."

 

"I'd prefer if you not punch me... So how's the weather?" Not even looking over from where he laid, Bokuto whacked his arm down on Kuroo's chest, "OW! Ok ok ok, I'll speak! Just don't hurt my family!"

 

Bokuto let out a small laugh, "Fine, but you've got to talk."

 

"So I do want to meet him-"

 

"Ha! Knew it!"

 

"Shut up! The problem is, he honestly seems to good for me." Kuroo finally admitted with sigh, he hated thinking the words inside his head, even more so saying them out loud.

 

"You're kidding right? You're totally husband material." Bokuto tilted his head to the side so he could see Kuroo.

 

"Thanks bro," Kuroo had to smile at that, "It's just, I have turned him down so many times in the past 4 months. Gotten into fights over it too, I've said some shit that makes me wonder why he still talks to me. The past few weeks he's stopped trying. I'm kinda scared he's getting bored with me." T

 

he thought of Hotaru not talking to him anymore scared Kuroo a lot more than he thought it would, "For all I know he's probably found someone else. Won't it seem selfish if I try to pop into his life now that he's probably moving on, just to keep him interested in me? I won't lie that the fact he's hardly been texting me all week is freaking me out. I don't want to lose him." Kuroo finally turned his head so he could meet Bokuto's amber eyes. For once Bokuto looked calm, Kuroo on the other hand looked rather distressed, his hands pulling at the bottom of his shirt and the look on his face was pure worry.

 

"Honestly, I don't really know what to say besides send Hotaru one of those big, sappy texts about how you feel and tell him you want to meet. I'm 99% sure he'll be so happy to hear that you want to meet. He obviously cares about you too, I remember you told me he reminds you of things you need to do, after he gets upset about something, makes sure your okay too once he's calmed down, not to mention that time he scolded you for staying up too late to study, and that time he wouldn't stop texting you when you were sick until you took some medicine and had something healthy to eat."

 

The worry on Kuroo's face melted a bit as he smiled, there were so many more things that Hotaru had done the Kuroo didn't talk to Bokuto about. Reminding him of all those times eased him up a lot. But not all the way, "What if he rejects me?"

 

"If you wait any longer I wouldn't even blame him for doing so. Stop procrastinating!"

 

"You're one to talk Mr. I-do-a-4-paged-project-the-night-before-it's-due." Kuroo huffed.

 

Bokuto just sat up and grinned, "I get it done though!"

 

Kuroo rolled his eyes, "Whatever. I'll text him after training camp, it's just two more days and a night." Kuroo sat up as well, making small noise as he stretched. "Thanks for laying on the gym floor with me and talking about my feelings."

 

"No problem. We should probably get to bed though ."

 

 ...

 

Though Kuroo said after training camp he'd text Hotaru, the next morning he couldn't wait. Not being able to finish it, he typed between matches until sending sometime in the afternoon. It was longer than he'd like, a lot of it was similar to what Kuroo had said to Bokuto, also including his full name, and "I'm not sure if I can pick up, but call me after you read this. Once again, I'm sorry for making you wait."

 

Not getting a call, or at least a reply all day was kind of getting to him. But, Kuroo went about training camp as normal. At night, after the practice with Bokuto, Hinata, Lev, Akaash, and Tsukishima, he wondered if he should send another text. Eventually, he decided Hotaru's phone must be off and wrote on his arm.

 

_**I'm sorry if you've ready seen the text, but please check your phone and reply to me.** _

 

Hearing someone curse, Kuroo looked up and spotted Tsukishima looking down at his arm. Though everyone else had already left, the two had remained behind. Kuroo checking his phone and re-reading the text he sent a thousand times, while Tsukki sat down to catch his breath and drink some water.

 

Kuroo assumed Tsukishima noticed a bruise or something on his arm. With the intense practice they just had, it wouldn't be surprising.

 

"Your arm okay?" Kuroo asked, walking over. As Kuroo got close, Tsukishima moved his arm close to his side, "It's fine."

 

"If blocking Bokuto's spikes hurts your arms, you can always say so." Tsukishima glared at him for that, but Kuroo's smirk did not falter . "Ah calm down, I'm just teasing," Kuroo said, holding out his arm toward Tsukki.

 

As if it pained him to do so, Tsukki accepted the offer and took Kuroo's hand, pulling himself up. He was very confused as to why Kuroo wouldn't let go of his hand, that is until he followed Kuroo's gaze to the writing on his arm.

 

"What?" He asked, some what defensively as he pulled his arm away, irritated until he saw the same writing on Kuroo's arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok yeah I suck for ending it there.  
> It wouldn't have, but I came up with a completely different idea after I wrote the first draft. Also, I wanted to post something before Sunday.  
> Next chapter will be longer I promise ^^;  
> Also thanks for all the kudos and a near 1,000 hits :D


	6. I'm smart but dear lord I can be dumb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I planned to update sooner since I left off with such a short chapter and I cliffhanger, but whoops. I probably should have gone over this more ^^; if there's a mistake, feel free to point it out

This wasn't how Tsukishima wanted this to go. He could try to deny it, but he'd imagined countless scenarios of him meeting Captain, but none of them involved him being Kuroo, or meeting before Cap said that he wanted to meet.

 

Tsukki's brain went blank and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "I think the universe made a mistake."

 

Kuroo didn't look hurt in the least, "Really? I think I've been blessed by the gods." Kuroo's smiled brightly.

 

Without really meaning to, Tsukki took a step back, expression guarded, "You never wanted to meet me."

 

At this, Kuroo slightly winced, "Hey, even I can make mistakes." His tone took on more of a nervous tone, quickly realizing Tsukki wasn't very happy. Though it was a lot more complicated than being angry or happy.

 

Of course, Tsukishima was happy that he finally was able to meet him, but all that bitterness that had built up over the months, certainly hadn't gone away. Why would he be happy now? Tsukki had gotten a few love confessions over the years, and most of them were based purely off his looks, so even if he didn't think he was particularly attractive, he knew other people thought so.

 

"Funny time to realize your mistake." Tsukki's neutral expression became a bit more like a glare and Kuroo began to fully understand how bad this was looking, "You think I'm happy that you're my soulmate just because I now know what you look like, don't you?"

 

"Yes."

 

"But that's not it!" Kuroo exclaimed, trying not to let the panic rising in him show, "I wanted to meet you-"

 

"Then why didn't you say so?!" Tsukki's voice raised a bit more than he'd like. "I wanted to meet you from day one!" Without realizing it, his hands had closed into fists. Kuroo tried to speak, but Tsukishima was nowhere near done, "We've gotten into actual fights because I wanted to see you and you didn't! The day after you gave me your phone number, you told me to never call you and if I did, you wouldn't pick up. You would tell me stories about your friends soulmates and I always had to wonder why would you accept the fact that they're soulmates and we weren't really."

 

"Tsuk-"

 

"Not to mention wonder why I wasn't good enough! I could never tell if you talked to me because you liked me or talked to me because you were bored. Even if you didn't want it to be a soulmate thing, I was your friend wasn't I? Why couldn't that have been enough?!" His voice had progressively raised and he struggled to bring it back down again. It wasn't easy all the bitterness was rising up and rushing out, and he couldn't stop it.

 

"I'm telling you, seeing you just now had nothing to do with it!" Kuroo's own voice raised, but his was more out of desperation than anger. He never really thought about how all this truly affected Tsukishima. Sure Kuroo expected some grief about it, but thought it could easily pass. Looking at the rage and hurt on Tsukishima's face, he knew it wouldn't easy in the slightest.

 

"What's with all the yelling?" Both boys jolted as they looked over to the gym's entrance. Bokuto had entered, grinning, but it faded quickly as even he could tell how bad of a time this was. Akaashi had moved Bokuto to the side so he could enter. It didn't take long to figure out they were fighting.

 

"You take Kuroo out of here, I'll talk to Tsukishima." Akaashi said in a low voice.

 

Without a word, Bokuto walked over to Kuroo and slung his arm around Kuroo's shoulders, pulling him towards the gym’s entrance. He went without fight, glancing over his shoulder at Tsukishima as he left, who refused to meet his gaze, glaring at the ground with his fists still clenched.

 

Once out, Akaashi made his way towards Tsukishima who hadn't moved an inch. "Tsukishima," Akaashi said in a cautious tone, placing his hand on Tsukki's shoulder. Which he promptly shrugged Akaashi off, but without much energy. "Before you ask, I'm fine."

 

"No you're not."

 

Tsukki sighed and leaned against the wall close behind him, "Okay, so I'm not." He slid to the floor, bringing his knees up so he could lay his head down on them.

 

Akaashi sat down next time, thinking carefully about what to say. "I know he got onto your nerves quite a bit over the week, but nothing really to fight about. What happened?"

 

"We found out who our soulmates are." Tsukki raised and tilted his arm a bit so Akaashi could see the writing before letting it drop back down to his lap. This cleared up the situation a lot for Akaashi. Sure Kuroo had never really talked to him about it, but he had heard enough from Bokuto.

 

"I'm not sure if you know, but we've been talking for months. Whatever we write on our skin will show up on the other." Tsukki didn't raise his head to speak, "He never wanted to meet. I asked countless times. We just found out a minute ago but...."

 

"You aren't really happy about it, were you?"

 

Tsukishima shook his head, which didn't work to well with his forehead on his knees, "No. Kuroo seemed so happy but, why would he be happy now? It's been months of this being one-sided. It's making me think he's only happy now that he knows what I look like."

 

Akaashi was silent for a moment, "I guess you wouldn't know, but Kuroo always talked about you like a little kid with a crush."

 

Tsukishima was honestly a bit taken aback. “Come again?"

 

"He was worse almost worse than Bokuto," there was a slight smile on Akaashi's face, "I know you're probably worried that he doesn't really care about you, but he really does. I remember one time he started freaking out because you didn't reply to him for a day, he was certain you had died." Tsukki let out a snort. "I could always tell when he's talking about you to someone else, he looks the same as Bokuto, the two of them particularly sparkle."

 

"Who is Bokuto talking about when he’s ‘sparkly’?”

 

"Me."

 

At this, Tsukishima finally looked about, feeling more surprised than he should be. "Really? How did you two find out?"

 

"Hard to explain, I never had a sign." Akaashi planned to leave it at that, but the expectant look in Tsukki's eyes prompted him to continue, "Bokuto was the one to have the sign, obviously. We're one of the rare cases where one person has a sign, and we didn't meet within a year. Bokuto suddenly lost his hearing, no doctor could explain why. It was three years since he went deaf until he met me. By then he had learned sign language and became used to not hearing. We met my first day of high school, the other first years that had joined the volleyball club had lined up in front of the upperclassmen and we all said our names. I was last, and the second I said my name, all a sudden there's some guy clinging onto me sobbing about how he can hear. It's kind of strange, even as the other teammates pulled him away, and I had never seen him before, I just knew that he was my soulmate. The upperclassmen told me he had gone deaf a few years back. The first thing he heard in years was my voice," the only way Tsukki could describe the look on Akaashi's face was in love, as sappy as that sounds.

 

Everything about him looked relaxed and there was a gentle look to his face. "Bokuto wouldn't leave me alone after that and gave me a love confession a week later."

 

"Did you accept?"

 

"No," Akaashi shook his head, "Not at the time at least. I was so overly concerned that it was just because he was able to get his hearing back. It took a month or two before I realized that even if I were the deaf one, I would probably still have gotten that love confession a week later." Akaashi glanced over a Tsukishima, "So, nice try at the topic change, but, Kuroo." Tsukishima made a small groaning noise and let his head fall back to his knees. "What does your arm say anyways?"

 

"I never did read it, more like glanced." Tsukki looked up once more and held up his arm to read. "He wanted me to reply to his text. I wonder when he sent it, my phone has been in my bag in the rooms all day."

 

"Oh."

 

"Oh?" Tsukki looked at Akaashi with a questioning look, he looked like it now all made sense.

 

"You should go read that text." The look on Akaashi's face told Tsukki that this conversation was over and that he should go check his phone.

 

* * *

 

  
"FUCK!" Kuroo yelled the instant the gym was out of sight. His voice echoed through the empty hall.

 

Bokuto winced and looked around, "Please don't yell curse words when people can hear us."

 

"You didn't get to see that hurt look on his face! Dude, I fucked up so bad!" Kuroo had the overwhelming urge to punch something, but his only options were concrete walls and Bokuto, and none of those seemed like a good option. Instead, he covered his face and yelled into his hands.

 

When a hand that was too small to be Bokuto's touched his shoulder, he looked through his fingers and saw Kenma. "Kuro, you're being very loud." Kenma had a stern look on his face that said, "lower your voice."

 

Part of him wanted to yell, "I don't fucking care if I'm being loud!" But once again, that didn't seem to be a good option. He let out a defeated sigh and hung his head, suddenly calm. "Did you come because you heard me yelling?"

 

"Bokuto texted me," Kenma answered, waving the phone in one of his hands, "I brought a pillow." He held up a pillow Kuroo hadn't noticed he was holding. Kuroo couldn't help but smile a bit, "I love you," he paused for a bit then added on with extreme exaggeration, "bro."

 

"I know." Kenma replied, but whacked Kuroo with the pillow. Moving near the wall, Kenma sat down and looked expectantly at Kuroo and Bokuto. With a sigh, Kuroo sat down, accepting the pillow Kenma. He hugged it to his chest as Bokuto sat on the other side of him.

 

"Now that we're all settled down, why were you fighting with Four Eyes?" Bokuto asked.

 

"Remember when I said Hotaru was a lot like Tsukishima and you joked that maybe he was Hotaru?"

 

"Yeah?"

 

"I just realized I'm an idiot. You know, Hotaru and Kei are spelled the same way."

 

Bokuto looked confused for a moment but Kenma immediately got it, "So that grumpy blond is your soulmate?" Kuroo nodded, looking blankly ahead, "I'm in a college preparatory class, I feel like I should be smarter than this."

 

"But why were you two fighting, I feel like that text you sent today should have made things better," Kenma frowned, "Unless.... He never read the text." Kuroo nodded, confirming what Kenma said.

 

"He didn't notice that I had writing on my arm until I froze. I shouldn't have said anything."

 

"You couldn't have known it'd lead to a fight." Kenma said gently, but Kuroo's grip on the pillow only tightened.

 

"He thinks I'm only happy about him being my soulmate because I know what he looks like now. I'm mean sure I'm happy that my soulmate’s a model, but he doesn't understand that's not it. And some of the things he yelled at me were true, I should have met with him sooner, whether or not I wanted it to be a soulmate thing.” Kuroo wiped the sweat off his forehead, whether it was from the summer heat or getting all worked up, he didn't know. Probably both.

 

“But once he reads the text, everything will be fine, right?" Bokuto smiled cheerfully, "Knowing you it was probably really sappy," Kuroo glared, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Once he reads it, he'll probably confess his undying love to you the next time he sees you." Kenma motioned for Bokuto to lower his voice, which he promptly ignored.

 

"Even if he reads it, it doesn't change the fact that brushing him off all this time really hurt him."

 

"It will probably take time for you two to work things out, but it's worth it, right?" Kenma asked.

 

Kuroo started to nod, but then the worried look came back, "What if he's angry enough not to read the text? What if he ignores me?"

 

Bokuto shook his head, "Akaashi's talking to Glasses right now, have some faith in him. I'm sure everything will work out."

 

Letting out a sigh, Kuroo relaxed a bit, "Thanks."

 

"No problem bro."

 

"Love you, bro."

 

Sensing the danger, Kenma tried to get away, but Kuroo quickly looped an arm around his waist and pulled him in as Bokuto gave the two of them an over dramatic bear hug. "I hate both of you." Kenma muttered half-heartedly as he was smushed into Kuroo, who had started laugh. Even with a near week away from home, Kenma still had the scent of vanilla.

 

They all jumped when a phone started ringing. Haphazardly detangling themselves from each other, Kuroo finally managed to pull out his phone. His heart skipped a beat when he read the caller ID "Mr. Grump"

 

"Tsukishima?" Kenma asked as Kuroo quickly nodded, faintly saying, "Yeah." As he answered the phone and walked away from the two.

 

"..."

 

"..."

 

"So I should've heard you out before I blow up."

 

Kuroo let out a laugh, more out of relief and nervousness than finding the situation funny. "To be fair I deserved it."

 

"Just a little bit."

 

"You were right though, I should have made an attempt to meet you sooner."

 

"Yeah, I'm still not very happy but... I don't really think the universe made a mistake."

 

Whatever Kuroo was gonna say was lost when his phone suddenly buzzed and the dreaded "critical battery!" Notification popped up, "Kuroo?"

 

"God damn it, my phone's about to die, talk to you later?"

 

"Yeah, night Cap."

 

Kuroo grinned like an idiot, "Night, Hotaru~" That last thing he heard from Tsukishima letting out an irritated sigh, "How did I just know you misread my name?! Seriously!" Chuckling, Kuroo turned around to see Kenma and Bokuto standing a little bit away. Bokuto was smiling cheerfully and giving him the thumbs, Kenma made a heart with his hands. "I'm disowning you to as my bros!" Kuroo huffed.

 

Bokuto like out a squawk like sound in horror, "But you were the one that broposed to me!" As Kuroo walked towards them, Bokuto pulled him closer by grabbing his hands. "We were joined in broly matrimony!"

 

"We just can't be together!" Kuroo sobbed, drawing one hand away from Bokuto so he could cover his face as Kenma starred on in disdain.

 

"Personally I think holy matrihomie sounds better..." Akaashi said quietly, startling the other three. When he had walked up, no one knew. "Well, I guess it's fine we're breaking up," Bokuto said after a moment, voice tight. "because I'm sure as hell marrying Akaashi!"

 

"Wait!" Akaashi squeaked out right before Bokuto bear hugged him, spinning him around. "This isn't necessary." Akaashi sighed in exasperation, but he was smiling.

 

"Guys it's illegal to show this much PDA." Kuroo accused, prompting Bokuto to kiss Akaashi dramatically. "They're children here!" He gasped in mock anger, covering Kenma's eyes who irritatedly swatted him away.

 

"I wanted to be in bed an hour ago." Kenma yawned tiredly walking away, quickly followed by Kuroo, who called out to them as they walked away, "Keep it PG love birds!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trust me, Tsukki is not gonna make it very easy for Kuroo.
> 
> Would have updated sooner but in the time I last updated I've read 3 books and now I'm suffering because I can't get ahold of the last one (reading the Raven Cycle). But I haven't gone over this a lot so I hope I don't regret posting it today.  
> Until next time! Thanks for all the reads, comments, and kudos :D
> 
> IMPORTANT EDIT: I changed "so I might've been a bit of an asshole" to "So I should've heard you out before I blow up."
> 
> I thought it fit better ^^;


	7. Or ya know, you could resolve things by actually talking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter and I'm so sorry.  
> It was the end of the school year and I was suddenly very uninspired to write. Sorry if that shows in my writing ^^;

Though the conversation had been friendly, Tsukishima's chest felt tight. It must have shown because it didn't take long for Yamaguchi to notice when he came back into the room.

 

"Tsukki what's the matter? You walked out dialing a number and now you look more sour than usual,” That remark earned him a small frown, “did you get bad news or something?" Trying to work things out his head before he replied, Tsukki shook his head.

 

Yamaguchi waited patiently until Tsukki finally replied, "It wasn't bad news, good news actually. Just the way things played out were bad."

 

"Anything to do with Cap? I noticed the writing on your arm and you two haven't really done that since you started texting." Yams said as Tsukki sat down on the floor in front of him. For it being late, the room didn't really have a lot of people in it, though some of Karasuno's upperclassmen were huddled around a tablet nearby.

 

"Yeah, we accidentally found out who each other were about half an hour ago. I'm assuming Captain chose that name because he's the captain of his volleyball team, like what I thought before." There wasn't much emotion on his face, but inside was a mixture of calmness and about 10 different emotions mixed together in an irritatingly confusing matter.

 

Yamaguchi thought for a moment, "I think it's safe to count out Fukurodani captain out, from what you told me Captain is really smart," Yamaguchi paused for a moment before stuttering out, face red, "Not that I think he's stupid or anything! Just his personality doesn't seem to match up to Caps! A-anyways, our own captain can be counted out for sure. That leaves 3 captains still. I'm putting my guess on Nekoma's captain, you've been practicing with him, right?”

 

"You guessed right. I went off on him when we found out, which he totally deserved..." Tsukishima trailed off, frowning down at his hands which were folded in his lap.

"But...?" Yamaguchi picked up for him.

 

"But he sent me a text earlier today that I didn't see until a few minutes ago. He told me he wanted to meet me, said what his name was, even said sorry.” Tsukki’s frown deepened. “Am I supposed to act like I was fine for being rejected for months or ignore him for month like I kinda want to do." Tsukki's fingers slightly dug into his skin, but not enough to hurt himself. He already acted like everything was fine over the phone call, not being face to face made it easier to fake it. Now he was wondering if that was the right thing to do.

 

Yamaguchi sighed, "You can't ignore everyone who hurts you-"

 

"Watch me." Tsukki muttered, earning a stern look Yamaguchi.

 

"But I also don't think you should act like everything's fine. Seriously, you need to stop dealing with everything with one of those two options." Though he didn't say it, Tsukishima's expression screamed, "watch me.". Yamaguchi rolled his eyes, "You should talk to Kuroo about how he hurt you."

 

"Who ever said I'm hurt?"

 

"Sorry Tsukki, I forgot you can feel no pain."

 

"I never said that either!" Tsukishima huffed in an annoyed voice, but Yams caught the small smile he had for a moment.

 

"I know you're not one to talk about your feelings, but you should. Get him to talk about his feelings as well, he probably had more reasoning behind not wanting to meet you than "the universe can't control me.""

 

Tsukishima nodded, but didn't say anything. "If you need sometime to think everything through, you have absolutely no obligation to talk to him." Yamaguchi said, but then added, "Though I suggest saying so to him so he doesn't explode your phone with texts wondering why you're not replying."

 

"I could just block his number."

 

"Tsukki _no!_ Plus you can't block him from writing on his arm! C'mon on try to help you two progress not regress!"

 

Tsukki snorted, "I don't need your help." But the tone of his voice lacked any venom.

 

Yamaguchi smiled, "Yeah, yeah, I know. Now, I suggest you get ready for bed before it's lights out."

 

At that moment, Tsukki realized he was still in the same sweaty clothes from practice, "Crap, I'll be back," Tsukki sighed, stretching his arms up as he stood.

 

...

 

Though time was very limited for it being the last day of training camp, Kuroo continuously tried to get Tsukishima alone. Luckily for Tsukki, the day was busy enough to where he always had an excuse to leave. Even at the BBQ, Kuroo didn't have a chance to really talk to him with everyone around. Tsukishima was relieved, because another scene like last night in front of everyone would have been disastrous. Though Tsukki was fairly certain he had all his emotions under control.

 

The look on Kuroo's face every time Tsukishima found an excuse to leave gave him the mixed emotion of, "Ha! Now you know how I felt." And "I'm sorry, I just don't want to talk, don't look so upset."

 

"Tsukki!" Kuroo called out, spotting Tsukki further down the hall. With a jolt, Tsukishima turned around, cursing at himself internally for not pretending he didn't hear him. Kuroo walked up to him quickly, wanting to say something before another excuse came up.

 

Tsukki looked to the floor quickly, shifting his feet, "The buses are going to be leaving soon, I need to grab my stuff." He said bluntly, glancing up at Kuroo before turning around.

 

He was quickly stopped as Kuroo lurched forward to grab his wrist. "Kei, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, just... Just text or call me when you'll talk to me again, okay?"

 

Not knowing what to say, Tsukishima simply nodded and continued to walk away when Kuroo let go of his wrist. After taking a few steps, on impulse Tsukki turned around, meeting Kuroo's eyes. He froze for a moment, unable to read the expression on Kuroo's face before averting his eyes and continuing to walk, now at faster pace.

 _God_ ,Tsukki groaned internally, _that felt like a scene from some awful romance story._

 

Once on the bus, Tsukki made himself not look out the window as it pulled away from the school. He was sure Kuroo would be looking at him and they would share yet another romance story moment.

 

Glancing to the side he saw Yamaguchi trying to get into a comfortable position to sleep. Which was hard, seeing how their wasn't much room, but everyone seemed to accomplish it. "Hey Yamaguchi,"

 

"Hm?" Yamaguchi hummed, stopping his squirming as he looked at Tsukki.

 

_Thanks for all you've done for me this week_

 

"Never mind." Tsukishima muttered, looking out the window and earning himself a confused look from Yams. God things were so much more simple before the words "shut-up" had shown up on his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for the comments and kudos. Sorry again for how short this chapter is. Be nice to me ;-; <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys waited over a month for a chapter I wrote only past 1 AM. I'm so sorry. Not very proud of it either ^^;
> 
> But holy shit there's almost 300 kudos, thank you :D !

Three weeks had gone by and nothing. Kuroo was mildly proud of himself for accepting the fact the Tsukishima needed space. But now he was checking his phone every other minute to see if Tsukki texted him. The waiting was killing him.

 

"Kenma, where's my phone?" Kuroo asked, looking around the couch he was sitting at, picking up one of the far too many decorative pillows. "It fell out of your pocket when you got up to use the bathroom." Kenma said, glancing up from his phone.

 

"Oh, can I have it back...?" Kuroo asked after a moment when Kenma made no move from his spot on the floor to give the phone back. Kenma shook his head, unplugging his phone from the charger on the wall and standing up.

 

"What, why not?"

 

"I'd rather go to the mall by myself than see you mournfully staring at your phone again." Kenma said bluntly, stuffing his hands in the pocket of his hoodie.

 

"I'm not mournfully staring at my phone!" Kuroo protested.

 

"You've actually sighed at few times after checking to see if Tsukishima texted you. It's kinda sad if I'm honest."

 

"Who says I'm waiting for Tsukki to text me?" Kuroo said defensively, crossing his arms. Kenma didn't say anything, just gave him a stern look. "Okay, so maybe I am. Now give me back my phone."

 

"I hid it," Kenma shrugged, "You can have it back when you leave my house."

 

"You're always on your phone though, I don't think this is fair." Kuroo huffed glancing around the room, trying to determine where Kenma hid the phone. "My phone is in your hoodie pocket isn't it?"

 

"W-what? No!" Kenma exclaimed, looking slightly flustered. Kuroo grinned before lunging towards Kenma, who let out a yelp, dodged, and ran behind the couch. "You're not getting the phone Kuro." Kenma crossed his arms, tense and prepared to make a run for it.

 

"I'd expect something like this from Bokuto! Highly disappointed in you Kenma." Kuroo sighed, shaking his head. As Kuroo went around the couch, Kenma moved away slowly, not letting Kuroo get too close. Soon enough both of them were running.

 

"Kenma seriously! You don't even like running!"

 

"You'll get your phone back when you leave, until then-"

 

_Ding!_

 

Both boys froze for a moment at the text notification sound. Kenma looked down at Kuroo's phone, "It's from Tsukishima."

 

"Okay, now you have to give me back my phone," Kuroo grinned in triumph while Kenma sighed in defeat, handing Kuroo his phone.

 

Kuroo quickly opened his phone, sitting down on the couch as he read the message. The first thing he saw was a picture of himself, the day Tsukki got his revenge by putting makeup on himself.

 

 **Kei** _ **:**_ Wow, you look stunning. Btw, how did Bokuto get my number?

 

Kuroo let out a small laugh, he was hoping Tsukki wouldn't see that photo for a long time. But seeing how it seemed to get Tsukishima to talk to him, he couldn't really be upset.

 

 **Tetsurou:** I know, don't I just ooze desirability? Also, maybe he got your number from my phone during training camp???

 

 **Kei:** It doesn't matter I guess, I was going to text you sooner, but I didn't know what to say if I'm honest. Not to mention I've been pretty busy due to the Spring Tournament preliminaries.

 

 **Tetsurou:** Oh, I heard from Kenma, who heard from the shrimp, that you guys so far have won, congrats :D

 

 **Kei:** Thanks, I know your team is doing well too.

 

A few minutes went by with Kuroo trying to figure out what to say. He knew he had to somehow bring up the things said during their fight, but he didn't know how. Whether or not he admitted it to himself, he procrastinated with coming up with what to say when the time came, and now he was really regretting it.

 

Kuroo also regretted sighing because Kenma nudged him with his foot from the other side of the couch, "Talk. To. Him." Kenma said, stressing each word. Instead of talking to Tsukki, Kuroo decided to text ":P" to Kenma. Instead of a nudge, Kuroo got a kick. Hard, but not hard enough to prevent Kuroo from sending a "D:"

 

"Kuro I swear to god,"

 

"Okay, okay, I'll text him," Kuroo sighed.

 

**Tetsurou:** _You wanna talk about the fight?_

 

Might as well be blunt.

 

 **Kei:** Yamaguchi keeps looking over my shoulder and if I don't say yes he might yell and lecture me again. So yeah, let's talk.

Again? Kuroo couldn't imagine the freckled boy even raising his voice in anger, much less at Tsukishima. But that wasn't the issue at hand and Kuroo knew asking would just be an excuse to procrastinate even more.

 

 **Tetsurou:** Did you really think I didn't care about you?

 

He decided he might as well keep being blunt.

 

 **Kei:** Months of being rejected can do that to a person.

 

Kuroo let out a snort, well at least both of them were being blunt. He loved talking to Tsukki, it almost always brightened up his day. To think it had an opposite effect, even if it wasn't a constant negative affect, on Tsukishima really bothered him. How many times had Tsukki pretended everything was okay when he wrote or texted back?

 

 **Tetsurou:** I'll say sorry as many times as it takes. I didn't really consider how you felt and I'm sorry for that. Ok that’s a bit of a lame excuse, but I just didn't think you'd be that upset. I shouldn't have assumed you'd get over me just because I rejected you. God, at training camp when you avoided me for a day was awful. If what I felt that day is similar to what you felt for months, I'm honestly surprised you're still talking to me. So, thanks for not giving up on me.

 

Kuroo hated to admit he did wrong, but he knew he had to. This was a lot more important than his pride.

 

 **Kei:** Not going to lie, it kind of messed me up to see you get happy for your friends and their soulmates while not accepting me as yours. Also you're welcome, though you make it really hard to stay mad when you're apologizing and the fact you could also easily given up on me as well. Still not happy, but hey it's a start.

 

Kuroo felt bad that he made Tsukki feel that way, but also glad that he was slowly being forgiven. Though his neck was starting to hurt from the position he was in. As he was texting, he slowly had been sliding off the couch. His head had reached the floor, putting his head at an awkward angle.

 

While he tried to figure out what to say back, he was hit by a sudden, and painful thought.

 

 **Tetsurou:**  Kei, be honest with me.

 

 **Tetsurou:** That time you cried, did I have anything to do with it? Like I know it was a built up of things, but, was I one of them?

 

As Kuroo waited for a response, his chest felt tight. He had honestly almost forgot about the incident. It was bad enough that he hurt Tsukishima's feelings, but crying? He didn't seem like the type to cry at all, especially now that he knows Tsukki in person.

 

 **Kei:** Let's change the topic

 

God damn it.

 

Kuroo muttered a curse, and closed his eyes. He heard Kenma shift on the couch, "Kuro, what happened?"

 

"I feel even worse, and the topic is officially closed. He'd turn me away if I tried to press on." Kuroo let out a frustrated sigh, "I don't even know what to change the topic to!"

 

He listened to Kenma crawl over to his side of the couch and look down on him, "Ask him how his day was. He likes music right? Ask him if he's heard any cool new songs or found a band likes. The conversation will flow from there." Kenma said patiently.

 

"This is like the same thing as a person who's always single giving out dating advice."

 

Patient look was gone. Kenma grabbed Kuroo's legs that were still hooked on the arm of the couch and pushed them away. The rest of Kuroo's body hit the ground and he laid there on his back, bringing his knees to his chest, "Rude." Kuroo grumbled, feeling too lazy to get off the floor.

 

Kenma just huffed and went back to his side of the couch. "Though honestly, thanks Pudding-head."

 

"No problem bedhead."

 

Kuroo let out a snort, rolling over to his side but still not getting off the floor. Unlocking his phone again, he laid there for a moment before finally texting Tsukishima back.

 

* * *

 

Before Tsukishima even realized it, the conversation had gone back to normal. Kuroo started telling his old dumb jokes and sending him links to ridiculous videos. Tsukishima had planned to not really talk to Kuroo for awhile, thinking it was going to be awkward.

 

Now it was nearly 11 PM on school night and the two were still texting. Tsukishima didn't realize he was tired until he yawned and looked at the time. Tomorrow wasn't going to be fun.

 

 **Kei:** Kuroo, I have to go to sleep. If I stay up any later school is going to be absolute hell.

 

 **Bedhead:** Oh damn, it is late. Night Tsukki.

 

 **Kei:** Don't call me that.

 

It was more out of habit really, though he'd still prefer to keep to a minimum the people who called him Tsukki.

 

 **Bedhead:** Aw :( Uh, Moonshine?

 

Tsukishima's nose crinkled

 

 **Kei:** That is so much worse. Isn't that a type of alcohol too?

 

 **Bedhead:** You're not leaving me many options here. How about Moon of my life?

 

It was even worse and Tsukishima found himself letting out a small laugh.

 

 **Kei:** God that's ridiculous, please no.

 

 **Bedhead:** So picky >:( Ok ok, goodnight Kei

 

Tsukishima smiled a bit as he sent the last text for the night.

 

 **Kei:**  Goodnight Captain.

 

He put his phone on the nightstand and got under the covers of his bed. The small smile he had slowly vanished as he thought about their conversation before it became casual and friendly.

 

He hoped Kuroo forgot about the time he teared up. Even if Kuroo remembered, Tsukishima hoped he wouldn't bring it up, definitely not connect it to himself. Many things pushed him to the point, but his feelings of frustration towards Kuroo was the main cause. Only a tear or two actually came out, but to Tsukki it seemed as bad as breaking down and sobbing.

 

Tsukishima didn't really want to talk about it then, and he still didn't, but he knew that by not denying it, it was pretty much the same thing as saying yes, Kuroo was a cause for it. He knew it'd come up again eventually, and hopefully he'd be willing to talk then. But until then, Tsukki was a lot more content with things going back to normal.

 

...

 

The next morning when Tsukishima's alarm clock went off, he hit the snooze button. When it when off again a little later, he was tempted to do it again, but he felt the familiar tingle of Kuroo writing something.

 

Now with a little motivation, Tsukishima got up and made his way to the bathroom. When the lights were on, he immediately looked at his arm

 

**_Good morning Moon of my Life •3• ~ <3_ **

 

Tsukki let out a laugh, a little ashamed something like that got him to laugh. God he hoped that nickname wouldn't stick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Make Kuroo suffer" I tried but I failed. I want my children to be happy, I'm shit at writing anything negative. I'm really vanilla.
> 
> Also if you're like, "Dude. Wtf was Kuroo doing throughout the chapter?" Go to the end of your bed (or the side, I guess) you're probably laying on as you stare at your phone screen reading this. Lay on your back with your head over the edge and just slide off.
> 
> That's basically what Kuroo is doing, but with a couch.
> 
> If I could draw Kuroo I'd totally draw him doing that. I also wanted to draw Tsukki and Kuroo with their awful make-up, but alas ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to write this. It's a sort of filler chapter I guess. The plot doesn't move on.

Everyone has bad days. Kuroo knows this, but it doesn't help him from feeling as salty as his soulmate. Why were people so annoying at times? Was it that hard for people to take things down a notch?

 

Falling face first into his bed, he resisted the urge to just yell into the blankets, as that would probably get his mom to walk in and ask what's wrong. At the moment, he really didn't want to talk about it.

 

When in doubt, take out a marker.

 

**_Kei, say something to cheer me up :(_ **

 

**_I'm not the comforting type, what's wrong?_ **

 

**_I don't really want to talk about it. What's a good way to distract myself from the horrors of this world?_ **

 

**_I don't know, you could just doodle something to take your mind off things._ **

 

**_Like what?_ **

 

There was a pause and Kuroo almost could see Tsukishima shrugging.

 

**_It could just be pointless scribbles and designs, like this_ **

 

A swirling patterned appeared, it was memorizing to watch, the line would curl at the end, and at some other point another line would branch of it and curl again. After awhile it kind of looked like vines. The tingling feeling felt rather soothing as the lines appeared. It covered his forearm before Tsukishima stopped.

 

**_Sorry, got carried away_ **

 

**_No don't apologize, I was successfully distracted._ **

 

Kuroo joined in, making senseless designs, eventually having to take off his shirt to continue. What was bothering him before was completely forgotten. That is until Kuroo looked at the time and realized dinner would be soon and he still hadn't started his homework.

 

Also after drawing for so long, Kuroo completely missed the fact that he had to really use the bathroom. So, putting his marker down he headed for the bathroom. Despite really having to pee, Kuroo had to pause for a moment to admire himself in the mirror.

 

Both of them had used black markers so it almost looked like he was tattooed. The patterns covered his arms, shoulders, and chest. Some designs even crept over his neck and back a bit.

 

He'd be lying if he said that this didn't make him want to get a tattoo. Kuroo was gonna regret having to wash all this off. They definitely had to do this again sometime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it~  
> Please tell me if you wouldn't mind more small chapters like this while waiting for me to get my shit together :D  
> Also last chapter some dialogue got really fucked up and I didn't catch it until recently. Its near the beginning with Kuroo and Kems talking, so if you were confused, I suggest you go back and read it.  
> Thanks for sticing around!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The time frame this chapter is in is super vague so I'm assuming like previous times, they arrive late at night to the Tokyo practice matches.  
> I think I found most mistakes, but it's still 4:30 AM.  
> Also holy shit this story is at 400 likes-! Thank you~

When Coach Ukai announced they'd have a few weekend practice matches in Tokyo, Tsukishima was more happy than he thought he'd be. He was a bit anxious to see Kuroo after being split for so long, part of Tsukishima wanted to see him, part of him didn't. Though he wouldn't admit it, Tsukki did kind of want to see Bokuto and Akaashi too (even if Bo did text him so damn much).

 

On the way to Tokyo, Kuroo spammed his phone with texts, just stuff like, “I can't wait to see you!” Or “Are you almost here? How long do you think it'll take?” At first. But when Tsukishima told him to stop acting like a pining little kid because some of his teammates were getting nosy about who he was texting so much, Kuroo switched to saying bad pickup lines. Some of which weren't very appropriate.

 

After, “Hey Kei, that shirt’s very becoming on you. If I were on you, I'd be coming too ;)” Tsukishima decided it'd be best to turn off his phone for the rest of the ride. Sadly though, he couldn't turn off their soulmate connection.

 

**_Baby come back :(_ **

**_Grow up_ **

**_I'm very mature for my age! I swear._ **

 

Tsukishima rolled his eyes at that, he’s met 1st years (none of which are on his team, sadly) that are more mature than Kuroo. But on second thought, he didn’t want to think about how different Kuroo would be without his goofy side. Tsukki knew he was mature when the time called for it.

 

From previous trips, he could tell that he was almost at the school. Before he could say so-

 

**_Are you almost here? :)_ **

  


**_I hate you. But yes, please stop asking._ **

  


**_You hate me?! But I'm so lovable~_ **

  


**_I'm gonna ask to go home._ **

  


**_(ノಥ,_｣ಥ)ノ彡┻━┻_ **

  


_**What happened to being mature?** _

 

Glancing up he could see the school, so before Kuroo could respond, Tsukki quickly wrote _**We're here** , _and then got a wet wipe from his backpack to wipe off all the writing. Once the writing was off, he shook Yamaguchi awake.

 

“We're here.” Tsukishima repeated to Yamaguchi who groaned and closed his eyes again, wanting to sleep a bit longer. When he still didn’t open his eyes, Tsukki flicked Yamaguchi on the ear. With a pain filled sigh, Yamaguchi opened his eyes and yawned. As the bus stopped, Tsukishima got up, stretching a bit. The bus rides certainly weren’t all that fun, but for how nervous he felt now he’d almost prefer to stay on a bit longer.

 

From previous trips, they’d be greeted, chat a bit before going to bed. Knowing Kuroo though, he’d try to talk to him alone, which honestly they needed to talk face to face. But what would they even say, how would it be different than texting each other? Well, he was about to find out.

 

As he thought, coaches and various team members waited out front to greet them. Of course, Kuroo was out front, along with Kenma whose head was tilted up, looking for someone. That someone must have been Hinata because the second Kenma spotted him, he faintly smiled and made his way over to him. Tsukki took a moment to appreciate the cool air after being on  the bus for so long. Tsukishima’s eyes met Kuroo’s, he grinned at Tsukki, but formalities made Kuroo go over to talk to Daichi.

 

Tsukki didn’t mind too much, had Kuroo gone over to him first it might raise some questions he didn’t want to answer. Yamaguchi was bad enough, playfully teasing him whenever Kuroo was brought up, the last thing Tsukishima wanted was for the rest of the team to know. It’d be hell, he imagined Tanaka and Noya would be literally the worst. Either ridiculously over protective or annoyingly supportive. Hinata would probably ask a lot of questions and would be worse at the teasing than Yams, but Tsukki wouldn’t tolerate it from Hinata. He wasn’t sure what everyone else would act like.

 

Lost in thought as he walked through the halls, Tsukishima noticed Bokuto too late.

 

“Oi, Tsukki!” Bokuto greeted cheerfully, draping his arm across across Tsukishima’s shoulders. How anyone could be so genuinely happy at this late hour was beyond Tsukki. Maybe Bo really was an owl.

 

“Hello Bokuto,” He said politely, before meeting eyes with Akaashi and nodded at him in greeting.

 

Akaashi came to his rescue, “Bokuto, Tsukishima still needs to put his stuff in one of the rooms,”

 

“Aw, but he just got here! You can hang out with me for a bit, right?” How could Tsukki say no to that smile? Luckily he didn’t have too, Akaashi spoke up once again, “We all know who he needs to talk to, we still have the next two days.”

 

Bokuto’s arm slipped off Tsukishima’s shoulders, “I hate it when you’re right,” he said with a sigh before letting out a chuckle, “Tsukki, you should’ve heard Kuroo before you got here. He-” before he could finish his Akaashi shushed him. Actually, Tsukishima would have liked to hear this, but Akaashi pulled Bokuto away and waved goodbye.

 

Tsukishima fought the smile that was tugging at his lips and went back on his way to the room. Unsure where his team disappeared off to, he turned his phone back on and was met with a small spam of texts from Kuroo before he realized Tsukki had turned off his phone. He’d read them later. 

 

 **Kei:** Where are you?

 

Tsukki texted Yamaguchi right as he got another notification from Kuroo, him asking the same thing. He decided not to respond at the moment, still needing to drop off his stuff.

 

 **Tadashi:** The room closest to the bathrooms. 

 

 **Kei:** Got it, be there in a sec.

 

Tsukki figured he’d have to say something back to Kuroo before he thought he was avoiding him, but Kuroo beat him too it.

 

 **Bedhead:** I’ll be by the 3rd gym.

 

First, Tsukishima had to drop off his stuff. Making his way over to the room, he spent hardly a minute setting everything up next to Yamaguchi before walking out when he thought no one would notice. Of course Yamaguchi did and he was barely out the door before he got a text.

 

 **Tadashi:**  Keep it PG ;)

 

 **Kei:** Fight me

 

 **Tadashi:** So, you’re planning on not being PG?

 

Tsukki audibly sighed as he pushed open the door to the outside hallway, he could just see Yamaguchi laughing. 

 

 **Kei:** Shut _up!_  

 

The night air already colder than it had been a few minutes ago, his footsteps echoed slightly in the quietness of it all. Looking up from his phone, he couldn’t see anyone. Which wasn’t weird, considering the time, but he expected Kuroo to be by the gym by now.

 

The question of where Kuroo was was quickly answered, Tsukishima heard the sound of running behind him and had barely turned his head before, for the second time this night, someone had their arm around his shoulders.

 

“Good evening, miss me?” Kuroo had a huge smile on his face. Now, Tsukishima _could_ be honest and say yes. But why would he make things that easy?

 

“As if,” Tsukishima said, looking away. Totally not because if kept looking at Kuroo he’d probably start smiling too.

 

Kuroo gasped, “How could you be so cruel, you’re the moon of my life!” This got a snort of laughter of Tsukki despite him trying not to.

 

“Haha, got you.” Kuroo sounded, and looked pleased with himself. “I hope you didn’t expect those dumb nicknames to be a text only thing because you’d have expected horribly wrong.”

 

“Around others you’d better call me Tsukishima.”

 

“So what you’re saying I can use them all I want when we’re alone?”

 

“No!” Tsukki huffed, brushing Kuroo’s arm off his shoulders, “That is not what I meant at all.”

 

“Too late Moonshine~” Kuroo laughed, Tsukishima tried to glare at him, but it was hard to with Kuroo laughing like that.

 

“I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.” Tsukki sighed in exasperation.

 

Kuroo stopped laughing and looked a bit more serious, “What were you expecting?” He asked, and that smile was back in a second, “For me to sweep you off your feet and kiss you?”

 

“As if you could pick me up,” Tsukki said with a laugh, then he took one look at Kuroo’s face and regretted what he said instantly, “Don’t even th-” He cut himself off with an undignified squawk when Kuroo lifted him bridal style. In the panic to not fall down, Tsukki looped his arms around Kuroo’s neck, “I swear to god Kuroo, if you drop me you’re dead!” despite not being the type to blush, Tsukki was certain his face was bright red.

 

Kuroo on the other hand looked like he was having a great time, “If I didn’t feel like you’d punch me, I’d follow through with the kiss,” then he added on with an eyebrow waggle, “Unless of course, I’m wrong.”

 

Unlooping one of his arms around Kuroo’s neck, Tsukishima pushed away Kuroo’s face, deciding it was too close, “Nope you’re not wrong. Now put me down.” Tsukki demanded. With a sigh, Kuroo put Tsukishima down who had to straighten out his now rumpled clothes.

 

“Is there any particular reason you asked me to come out here?” Tsukishima asked, once he felt like his face wasn’t still red.

 

Kuroo look dramatically offended, holding a hand to his chest, “Do I need a reason to talk to you?

 

“I guess not, I’m just so used to Yamaguchi stressing talking about my feelings when it comes to you.” As Tsukki talked he took off his glasses, wiped off the smudges with his shirt. Well, more like spreading around the smudging much to his annoyance. He put them back on a moment later, he’d deal with the never ending smudges another time.

 

Kuroo let out a small laugh, “Same thing with Kenma. I don’t think either of us want to do that at the moment, it’s late and we should get back inside before we get weird looks.” Kuroo looked like he didn’t really want to go back inside, and Tsukki would be lying if he said he didn’t feel the same. Regardless he nodded in agreement, it was better to end things now on a good note.

 

Both boys headed back towards the main building, in silence that was borderline awkward, but not enough so for either of them to try and break it. When they reached the door, Kuroo moved to open it, but stopped and turned to look at Tsukki with his signature smile, “Do I get a kiss goodnight?” he asked. Tsukishima just gave him a look, raising one eyebrow. “Aw, c’mon, what about a kiss on the cheek?” Kuroo tried again, looking stupidly hopeful.

 

Tsukki sighed and closed his eyes, before he could get any words out Kuroo rushedly said, “I take that as a sigh of defeat!” With one step forward, Kuroo kissed Tsukki’s cheek with a dramatic smooching sound. Tsukishima’s eyes opened in an instant, “I didn’t say yes!”

 

“Do I get a kiss on the cheek back?” Despite the smile on Kuroo’s face, he was tense and Tsukishima could tell he was worried if he crossed the line. If Tsukki was honest, he wasn’t sure. He never really dated anyone so he couldn’t tell he felt like this because no one besides family members had ever kissed his cheek or because he really didn’t want Kuroo to.

 

Unsure, Tsukishima decided to just play it off, “Keep dreaming. It’s not happening any time soon.” he brushed past Kuroo to open the door.

 

“So… it _will_ eventually happen though?” Kuroo asked, looking relieved despite his playful smile. Tsukishima walked in, not holding the door open for Kuroo, “If you’re like this now, I feel bad for the people who knew you when you’re younger.”

  
“I’m hurt, Tsukki!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wtf is angst? I swear I go in every time planning on making things angsty, but I cannot. Take this fluff. I need to stop doing everything in Tsukki's POV but tbh I'm basically projecting myself onto him at this point.  
> Wait until these losers are head over heels for each other tho, I'm dating my GF long distance and it SUCKS so much at times. Potential angst? Who knows, not me :/


	11. I love you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this is short, I'm really sorry for taking so long. But tonight was the first time in forever I was actually inspired and didn't feel like everything I wrote was awkward (like the last chapter... I kinda wanna rewrite that). Also most of this was written in a short amount of time, so I apologize for any mistakes-

Training camp seemed to fly by. It was of course a very short time frame, but between matches, training, and hanging out with Kuroo in spare time, Tsukishima was exhausted and barely awake during school the first day back. If his tiredness wasn’t enough of distraction during class, the fact he caved when Kuroo held out his arms for a hug before he left certainly was enough. Kuroo wasn’t really expecting a hug, but after an unimpressed look and a sigh, Tsukki gave in. It was a simple hug and yet here he was, unable to get it out of his mind.

 

After Bokuto united the two soulmates on one disastrous, meme-filled video chat, the two spent the week calling each other after school and volleyball practice. It’d usually start once both of them were home and end once one of them was called to dinner. Despite most of the call being silent due to the boys doing homework, Tsukki would occasional ask for help on his homework. He tried to disguise it as testing Kuroo to see if he knew what the answer was, but Kuroo wasn’t fooled and Tsukishima knew it. 

 

“..and that’s how you solve it, but of course you knew that, right?”

 

“Yup. I did.” Tsukishima said with a nod, “I guess you’re actually pretty smart.” He wasn’t looking at the screen, but out of the corner of his eye he saw some movement that might’ve been a rude gesture.

 

“I’m the smartest person you know.” Kuroo grumbled. Tsukki didn’t reply, just let a snort as if to say  _ Yeah, sure.  _ He glanced up at the laptop’s screen, smiling a bit at the cute frown Kuroo had as he worked on his own homework. Of course Kuroo just had to look up and catch him staring. He didn’t say anything, just looked rather amused and then continued working with a smile on his face.

 

“Shut-up,”

 

“I didn’t say anything!”

 

“Your face said enough, I wasn’t staring!”

 

“Mhhm, then what were doing then?”

 

Tsukishima started to make an excuse, but against that grin plastered on Kuroo’s face, he couldn’t think of anything and had to turn his laptop away in hopes that Kuroo hadn’t seen the blush that was rising on his cheeks. Of course this only made Kuroo laugh, “Tsukki, my love, come back!”

 

Even though Kuroo was clearly playing around, Tsukki was very glad Kuroo couldn’t see his reaction to “my love”. Tsukishima put his hands on his cheeks and dear lord they were burning. It was no secret that he liked Kuroo, but he never thought he’d be the type to get this flustered.

 

It didn’t help that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to date Kuroo at the moment. With Kuroo being 3rd year and himself being a 1st, how would that work out? While Tsukki would be in school for another 2 years, Kuroo would soon be leaving. Long distance friendship was one thing, but an actual relationship… Trust wouldn’t be an issue, they were quite literally soulmates, but he wondered how hard days would get if he wanted to go on dates, hold hands, kiss, and generally be with someone so far away. Yet again, their feelings wouldn’t change even if they kept their relationship status as “just friends”.

 

He got so lost in thought, he almost didn’t hear Kuroo.

 

“Tsukki, Kei, Moonshine, Moo-”

 

“I hear you,” Tsukishima sighed, turning the laptop screen back towards him. Kuroo’s smile quickly faded when he saw Tsukki’s face and was replaced with a look of concern, “Something wrong?”

 

Before he could brush it off, Tsukki ended up saying, “Do you think a relationship would work between us while I’m still in school?”

 

Kuroo definitely wasn’t expecting a question like that and the surprise showed clearly on his face. Before Tsukishima could panic and say, “nevermind.” Kuroo asked back, “Well… Do you  _ want  _ to be in a relationship before you’re out of school?”

 

_ Yes. _ “Take a wild guess dumb ass.” Tsukki’s words lacked any venom. He had to look away from the screen and but a hand on his cheek to hide the annoying blush that insisted on showing up. 

 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” He could just  _ hear  _ the smile in his voice, “And so then, yes, I do think a relationship would work out.”

 

At this, Tsukishima looked back up at the screen. Kuroo somehow managed to look confident and nervous at the same. “I mean, yeah at times we simply would not be able to see each other in person but,” Kuroo reached over to grab something, his shirt moved up revealing a bit of his stomach. And for a moment Tsukishima felt like he was in some badly written fanfic, unable to look away from the small strip of skin. Kuroo leaned back over and Tsukishima quickly looked back towards Kuroo’s face, and thanked god Kuroo didn’t notice. “No matter what,” Kuroo held up the object he leaned over to get, a marker. “We’ll always be together.” The smile Kuroo had this time wasn’t playful, but a much more rare soft one as he drew a heart on his wrist.

 

Tsukki covered his face because dear lord he loved this boy, “Kuroo… that’s so gay.”

 

“Well no shit Kei,” Kuroo said before cracking up. “God, just HAD to ruin the moment didn’t you?!” Kuroo was blushing as much as Tsukki was, both of them embarrassed as all hell, but insanely happy too. Kuroo’s laugh was infectious and pretty soon Tsukishima was laughing as much as he was. 

 

Kuroo’s laughter died down when a call was heard. Tsukki in the short time they’ve been skyping had learned it was Kuroo’s mom calling him to dinner. “Well, I see you gotta go,” Then added on before he could stop himself, “bye, I love you.”

 

“Wait, what?!”

 

“BYE!”

 

Tsukki quickly ended the call, but was quickly met with the message, “Love you too, Moonshine.”

 

Unable to reply, Tsukki laid back and covered his face with a pillow. His heart was racing. That all had happened so quick, he had to take a moment to process it all. Oh god he’d have to see Kuroo soon after everything he’d just said. He equally wanted to die and couldn’t wait to see Kuroo again. Why were emotions so complicated?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh I really want to end this, but I'm not sure how. At this point I will honestly take suggestions on what you guys think would be a good ending.  
> Reminder that I have a tumblr and you can totally message me on there: https://soiwanttobeaweebinsecret.tumblr.com/


	12. OUTTAKE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT:  
> I forgot I wrote this. This was originally the first "I love you" scene. I wrote it forever ago, but I had to write more to get this point and completely forgot about it when I could've used it :,)
> 
> I am working on the last chapter atm, so I thought I'd let you guys have this since I'm taking forever

Tsukishima jolted a bit as he was suddenly hugged from behind. “Kuroo?” He said questioningly, feeling Kuroo rest his forehead on his shoulder.

 

“Hm?”

 

“Is something wrong?” Tsukki asked. Kuroo just shook head. “Well that’s clearly a lie.” If Kuroo was going to make Tsukki talk about his feelings, he was gonna make Kuroo talk about his own. 

 

“It's just…” Kuroo started and trailed off. “I saw you with the other first years on your team. Even though it looked like you were teasing the duo, you all seem to get along well, especially Yamaguchi.”

 

“Well, Yamaguchi is my best friend, and I don't really get along with Hinata and Kageyama.” Tsukki paused for a moment, “What's the problem though?”

 

Kuroo made a noise in response. “Wait a minute, are you… jealous?” The last bit was said a teasing tone, so Tsukishima was surprised when Kuroo’s arms tightened around him and he said, “Yes.”

 

After getting over the momentarily surprise, Tsukishima simply asked, “Why?” In which Kuroo responded to with a small groan, “I don't know! It's just, especially with Yamaguchi, you guys are close in a way we're not.”

 

“You are quite literally my soulmate.”

 

“I know that. It's not like I'm unhappy to see you get along with others or anything, because that'd be kinda creepy, I just want to be close to you like you are with Yamaguchi. You always seem to be happy and at ease around him.” Kuroo thought saying it all aloud would make him feel better, but now he felt even more tense.

 

“I've known Yamaguchi for years, I've also been physically around him more than you. There are some things you simply can't know about me over written words.” Tsukishima covered Kuroo's hand that was on his chest with his own, “I guess we’ll have to spend more time together then, right?” 

 

Kuroo's arms tightened around Tsukki again, and before Kuroo could stop himself a, “I love you,” slipped out. Tsukishima heart dropped. Not in a  _ oh no _ way, more of a  _ holy shit! Oooooooooh my god  _ kind of way. As Tsukki’s face heated up, Kuroo quickly let go and backed away, looking very flustered.

 

“Uh, um, sorry? I-it just sorta slipped out, sorry if that was too sudden or-or uh-” Kuroo was a stuttering mess, and it didn't help when Tsukishima turned around and looked him in the eye. He mumbled something before dropping eye contact.

 

“What?”

 

“I said, I love you too.”

 

Now both boys were speechless, red-faced messes. In a moment of bravery, Kuroo stepped forward, his face inches away from Tsukki's, “Can I kiss you?” Unable to find the words to respond Tsukishima closed the distance and with zero experience, kissed Kuroo.

 

When his brain finally rebooted, Kuroo with minimal experience, kissed back. It was only a few seconds before they pulled away, staring at each other. Tsukishima was first to break eye contact when he laughed, “I have no clue what I'm doing.” 

 

Kuroo placed his hands on the sides of Tsukishima's face, “Practice makes perfect, right?” He murmured, leaning in to kiss him again. Tsukki's eyes closed right as someone cleared their throat, “You two do realize you're supposed to be asleep?”

 

The two boys pulled away and in panic, looked around the hallway for the source of the voice. Kuroo was the first to spot Suga, “I could say the same to you.” He said defensively, blushing and slightly mortified that Karasuno’s vice captain had caught him kissing one of their members.

 

Suga laughed, looking rather amused, “No need to get so defensive. Also I'm using the bathroom, not smooching in the hallway.”

 

Though equally as mortified as Kuroo, Tsukki managed to stammer out, “No one even says the word “smooching” anymore!” Which was just as defensive and pointless as what Kuroo said, but hey, he was trying his best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, THIS DOESN'T REALLY HAPPEN IN THE STORY PLOT LINE.
> 
> Thank you guys so much for everything <3


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should've updated sooner, but to be fair, in 9 days my friend and I wrote 49k words for another fic ^^;
> 
> ALSO PLEASE NOTE: what made this so hard to write was the fact that I tried to follow the canon story line and make up crap that wasn't already shown in the show. It made me lose inspiration because I had to try and figure out to get around everything. So this chapter doesn't follow canon story line.

When Hinata asked Tsukishima to come to Tokyo with him, he had never been more confused. Hinata kept trying to talk to Tsukki during practice, but Tsukki did his best to avoid him. He’d get ridiculed for saying anything mean, and he didn’t want to deal with Hinata’s boundless energy and persistence.

 

It was pointless of course, seeing how Hinata went straight to him after practice.

 

“Tsukishima! I’m going to Tokyo this weekend-”

 

“Good for you,” Tsukki tried to leave the gym, but as expected, Hinata got in front of him. He tried to push the redhead to the side, but Hinata was having none of that, “Geez, stop doing crap like this! I want you to go with me.”

 

Tsukishima couldn’t think of any reason as to why he’d ever want him to go with him, “I’m not exactly your friend, why not ask Kageyama?” Hinata had his attention now though, so Tsukki waited for Hinata’s to respond.

 

“Well, I’m going to see Kozume. According to him, he’s tired of Kuroo saying he wants to see you,”

 

Had Tsukishima been alone, this might’ve brought a blush or smile to his face, but he’d rather die than let Hinata see him getting flustered over the rival school’s captain.

 

“And he’s too busy, it being his last year and all, to come down and see you. So Kozume thought it’d be nice surprise for you to come up instead,” Hinata had the dorky smile of his, obviously thinking this was the best idea ever. 

 

...

 

Even after Tsukishima got home, he couldn’t believe he agreed. Hinata looked so psyched, taking out his phone immediately to tell Kenma about Tsukki’s decision. It wasn’t that simple though, Tsukki would have to get permission from his mom, and he really didn’t want to explain he was going to see his boyfriend.

 

Wait, were they dating? Tsukki was pretty sure…? Tsukishima had practically confessed the last time they Skyped. That had been a few days ago and Tsukki had since then made up lame excuses to not answer the Skype calls. Honestly, he was a bit embarrassed.

 

It wasn’t long after he got home did Kuroo try to video call him. Taking in a deep breath and pushing down his anxiety, he answered the call.

 

“Heya Kei,” Kuroo face lit up the second Tsukki’s web cam came on. “My feelings were starting to get hurt! Why didn’t you answer my calls?” Though his tone was light and playful, Tsukki knew to certain degree, his feelings were a bit hurt. 

 

_ Wonder what it’s like feeling ignored _ , he thought, being a tad petty.

 

“Just busy,” Tsukishima lied, “What’s up?”

 

Hinata had told Tsukishima not to say anything and let it be a surprise. He wasn’t one for surprises, but this could be an exception. The thought of Kuroo’s surprised but happy face was enough to excite Tsukishima. It was a bit nerve wracking, it’d be the first time he would be hanging out with Kuroo away from volleyball.

 

It wasn’t until Kuroo finished talking did Tsukishima realize he wasn’t listening to a word he was saying. They stared blankly at each other for a moment.

 

“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”

 

“Nope.”

 

Kuroo sighed, but didn’t look particularly annoyed, “Honestly it was nothing important, but I think Kenma is plotting something,”

 

Tsukishima must’ve gone too poker face when Kuroo said that. “Wait what, you know what’s going on?” Kuroo asked, frowning.

 

Nothing he could say would convince Kuroo otherwise, Tsukishima already knew that. So, he decided to be an ass, “What? Of  _ course  _ not, I mean, I don’t even have his number. How could I possibly communicate with him?”

 

“Oi! You can’t just say that!” Kuroo pouted, “If you and Kenma go behind my back, who will I have left to confide in?”

 

“Bokuto would be heartbroken,” Tsukki shook his head solemnly, “I’m telling him,”

 

The dramatically betrayed look on Kuroo’s face was almost enough to break Tsukishima’s serious expression, “You  _ wouldn’t.”  _

 

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow.

 

“Ok you would, but,” Kuroo grinned, “I love you, so you shouldn’t.”

 

Tsukki’s cheeks burned, “You have a point,”

 

Kuroo pumped his hands up into the air in victory. Whether that’s because he finally said aloud to Tsukishima that he loved him, or going along with the joke and Tsukki wouldn’t tell Bokuto, he couldn’t tell. There was a good chance it was both.

 

“You’re not gonna tell me anything are you?” Kuroo asked, becoming more serious.

 

Shaking his head, Tsukishima replied with another, “Nope,”

 

“When will I be told what’s going on?”

 

“You’ll know when it happens,”

 

“Which will be when?”

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Tsukishima smiled. Kuroo groaned and pouted, but Tsukki was having too much fun at this point to stop being vague. “Cheer up Kuroo, it’s something good. I promise,”

 

“Is it for my birthday?” Kuroo asked, “It’s not too far off,”

 

If he was honest with himself, Tsukishima had completely forgotten when Kuroo’s birthday was. To be fair he barely remembered his immediate family’s birthdays.

 

“Possibly,” Tsukishima answered vaguely.

 

Kuroo rolled his eyes, “Fine then, I’m ignoring you while I’m doing my homework,” He huffed.

 

It took five minutes until Kuroo started talking to Tsukki again.

 

…

 

It wasn’t easy, but Tsukishima managed to convince his mom to let him to go up to Tokyo.

 

“But why?” She asked, looking overly concerned. It’s not like he ever got in trouble or did anything to be considered untrustworthy. 

 

“A friend,” Tsukishima used that term very loosely, “is going up there. He doesn’t want to go alone, and I’m friends with the people he’s seeing. So he asked me to tag along,” that really wasn’t the full story, but he wasn’t doing anything bad. If he said he was seeing his soulmate, she’d pester him for a bunch of details he didn’t feel like sharing. He’d tell her eventually of course, but he didn’t want to complicate the trip.

 

“Where will you be staying?”

 

“At one of the friends house,”

 

“What’s his name?”   
  


“Kenma Kozume,”

 

“And his parents are fine with this?”

 

“Yes, mom,” She was his mother, so Tsukishima didn’t feel too annoyed by all the questions.

 

She frowned a bit, considering it. “I’m guessing you’re taking the bullet train up?”

 

“Yes,”

 

“Do you need money?”

 

Tsukishima shook his head, “No thanks, I can cover it. And before you ask, I’ll be back sunday night,”

 

Once again she paused to think, before sighing and nodding, “Fine. Only because you have a friend with you, I don’t like the idea of you going up to person’s house when I don’t even know their parents,” She looked at Tsukishima sternly, “You’ll need to text me when you get off the train and when you arrive at your friends house, okay?”

 

“Okay,”

 

…

 

For some reason Hinata wanted to leave at ungodly hours in the morning. Which was fine, hopefully this would mean he’d be too tired to be energetic, but Tsukishima knew he was being hopeful. 

 

As expected, Hinata was totally psyched to be on the train. Tsukishima was tempted to sit far away from him, but he needed to keep an eye on him. Someone might mistake him for a lost child.

 

The second he was seated he was swinging his legs and texting Kenma. Though Kenma struck Tsukishima as someone who would never be up this early if he didn’t have to be.

 

Tsukishima wasn’t going to say anything, as long as he didn’t have to talk to Hinata for the whole ride there.

 

“Hey, Tsukishima,”

 

Of course.

 

“Hm?” Tsukishima hummed, searching through his bag for his headphones. He would’ve kept them around his neck if his mom didn’t think it was rude to listen to music in the company of other people.

 

“What’s up with you and Kuroo?” Hinata asked, “I was there during training camp, but it didn’t seem like you two were close enough for him to miss you,”

 

Tsukishima shot Hinata a glare, but didn’t respond.

 

“Is he your soulmate?”

 

That made Tsukishima freeze for a moment. There’s no way Hinata figured it out.

 

“What about you and Kenma,” Tsukki reversed the question, “You two seem awfully close,”

 

Hinata squirmed in his seat, “He’s a good friend,” Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. “What?! He is!” he said defensively, glaring back at Tsukishima.

 

“Fine then,” Tsukki shrugged, slipping his headphones over his head. That made Hinata pout, but he didn’t try and talk to Tsukishima again until near the end of the ride.

 

The longer Tsukki was on the train, the more nervous he felt. With his luck, Kuroo would be too busy to see him today. There was also the fact that today there would be no schedule to get him out of an awkward situation. He wouldn’t be able to back out at any point, he’d have to deal with Kuroo in real time.

 

That was more than a little scary.

 

To get one fear off his list, he decided to text Kuroo.

 

 **Kei:** Are you doing anything today?

 

Tsukki didn’t think Kenma would’ve invited him to come along if Kuroo was busy, but it was easier to make sure.

 

… 

 

Why Tsukishima was texting him so early, he didn’t know. Kuroo was only up because he couldn’t fall back asleep.

 

**Tetsurou:** I’m not doing anything today, why?

 

**Moon of My Life:** I’ve got nothing to do today and wanted to make sure I wouldn’t bother you if I kept texting you

 

Kuroo frowned at that, bothering each other has never been a problem. They talked even in class, on a weekend like this it should be even less of a problem. Tsukishima was also not really the type to worry about being a bother.

 

Of course, it could have something to do with whatever he was planning with Kenma. Though why Tsukishima would have to ask if Kenma already knew his day was planned full of nothing (and studying, though he really didn’t feel like it), didn’t make sense.

 

Maybe to throw him off the trail?

 

Kuroo decided to just let it happen when it happened, of course he might try to get someone to slip up and give him information, but there was no point in overthinking everything. It might end up being a prank, but he hoped for something good.

 

About an hour passed before anything else notable happened. Kuroo showered, made and ate breakfast while texting to Tsukishima. 

 

**Pudding Head:** Hey, can you come over to my house?

 

**Tetsurou:** Not that I don’t want to see you, but you’re far away and this is sorta sudden???

 

Kuroo stared at his phone, confused, for awhile longer until he realized it was Kenma, not Tsukishima who texted him that.

 

**Tetsurou:** OH

 

**Tetsurou:** Sorry, I was texting Tsukki before you texted me

 

**_Tetsurou:_ ** I’ll head over now

 

Kenma wasn’t usually the one to say he wanted to hang out, he usually just assumed Kuroo would show up at his house if he didn’t say he was busy. Which often ended up with Kuroo showing up and Kenma being busy or not at home, but they lived close enough by to where he never really minded the walk.

 

While Kuroo walked, he couldn’t help but wonder once again if this involved whatever was being planned. Then again, how could Tsukishima be involved with him going over to Kenma’s house. He mused that maybe Tsukki was just fucking with him and that he had no clue what Kenma was planning, or at least involved.

 

When he was about to reach Kenma’s house, he decided to text him.

 

**Tetsurou:** Hey, almost at your house

 

**Pudding Head:** You know the drill, just walk in

 

One day he was going to make Kenma get up and answer the door, but he’d spare him for now.

 

When he opened the door, Kuroo was very surprised to see Hinata in the living room. Despite his back being turned to him, he’d recognize that fluffy orange hair anywhere. If Kenma had Hinata over, why would he ask Kuroo to come over?

 

Kuroo was slipping off his shoes when the thought suddenly hit him.

 

_ No way. _

 

Muttering a quick, “hey,” to Hinata, Kuroo practically ran to the kitchen where he heard Kenma talking.

 

Sure enough, in there stood Tsukishima, talking to Kenma.

 

“Tsukki!” He cried cheerfully, practically tackling the poor unsuspecting boy in a hug. They ended up stumbling back a bit and would’ve fallen over if Tsukishima hadn’t grabbed the counter with one hand.

 

“Kuroo! You’re crushing me,” Tsukishima complained, but hugged Kuroo back pretty tightly with his free arm.

 

“Well, now that my job is done, I’ll be hanging out with Shouyou,” Kenma smiled a bit and patted Kuroo’s shoulder on his way out of the kitchen.

 

After a moment Kuroo finally released his hold on Tsukki, but remained close. “I can’t believe you’re here,” Kuroo grinned. He honestly couldn’t believe it, he himself had been planning to visit Tsukishima at some point. Never did he imagine Tsukishima would make the first move.

 

“It was Kenma and Hinata’s idea,” Tsukki looked away, cheeks turning red. “They said you kept saying you missed me. Have you really fallen for me that badly?” He looked at Kuroo with a teasing smile.

 

Kuroo leaned forward, “Yes,” While it was embarrassing to be so honest, the flustered look on Tsukishima’s face made it worth it. Though he must’ve decided Kuroo was too close and gently pushed away and moved out from being trapped between him and the counter.

 

“I should’ve expected that answer,” Tsukishima said, and Kuroo couldn’t help but agree. He’s been pretty forward ever since he found out Tsukki was his soulmate. Kuroo guessed it was because he never wanted Tsukishima to doubt how he felt about him. Especially considering how much in denial he was in at first.

 

“So, where are you staying?” Kuroo asked, “Well, assuming you're staying the night in Tokyo.”

 

Tsukishima nodded, “Yeah I’m staying the night. Since it was Kenma’s idea, I’ll be staying here,”

 

“You could always stay at my house,” Kuroo offered. Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t say anything. “What?! Geeze I have almost no dating experience, my intentions are pure,” Kuroo crossed his arms with a huff. He barely knew how to kiss someone much less anything more sexual.

 

That got a snort of laughter out of Tsukishima, “Alright, I believe you. I’ll never hear the end of it though from Hinata if I do stay at your house though,”

 

“Does he know we’re soulmates?” Kuroo asked, he didn’t really want others to find out until he was out of school. He wouldn’t be able to so much as look at Tsukki without his team teasing him. If it came out, he wouldn’t be too bothered. He’d be fine with Hinata knowing.

 

Tsukishima shrugged, “Not sure? He asked me if you were on the ride over here but I reversed it and asked if Kenma was his,” Kuroo wasn’t surprised if Tsukishima figured out those two were soulmates. Kenma had never been more obvious about liking someone, and being on the same team, he probably saw Hinata’s tattoo as some point and connected the dots.

 

“Would you mind if Hinata knew?”

 

“No, it’s going to come out at some point anyways,” Tsukishima shrugged again, “He’ll keep quiet if I ask… hopefully. I’ll threaten to tell the team about Kenma then,” 

 

Kuroo didn’t doubt that Tsukishima would get back at him. Before he could reply, his phone buzzed with an incoming text.

 

**You’re Owl I Need:** Hey can you hang out today? Akaashi had smth to do with family today and I’m bored

 

Now Kuroo was torn between hanging out with Tsukishima alone, or inviting Bokuto along. Knowing the guy, being a third-wheel would be no problem, but he wanted Tsukishima’s input.

 

“Bokuto wants to hang out, are you okay with that?” Kuroo asked, ready to type either answer.

 

Tsukishima looked surprised, “Uh, sure?” he didn’t look sure.

 

“I’ll show you around the city tomorrow,” Kuroo promised as he texted Bokuto back, before he paused, “KENMA?” he yelled loudly, causing Tsukishima to flinch at the sudden change in volume.

 

“What?” Kenma called back from the other room.

 

“Do you mind if Bokuto comes over?”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

**Tetsurou:** I’m at Kenma’s house atm, but he doesn’t mind if you come over

 

**You’re Owl I Need:** Great! See you then!

 

“You’re owl I need?” Tsukishima questioned, peeking at Kuroo’s phone screen. “Oh god what’s my contact name?”

 

It was Kuroo’s goal to give everyone in his contacts a ridiculous name, “What? It’s funny!” he protested, “Oh, and you’re name is moon of my life, of course,”

 

“Of course.” Tsukishima agreed with a sigh, “How long until Bokuto shows up?”

 

Good question. “I’d say half hour?” Kuroo left a questioning tone to his voice, “To this day the time changes. Researches have given up. There’s no clear connection between when he asks if he can come over to when he actually shows up,”

 

Tsukishima rolled his, but he smiled so Kuroo felt accomplished. 

 

…

 

Surprisingly, Kuroo was right and Bokuto showed up within half an hour. Seeing how he forgot to mention Tsukishima and Hinata were over, both got bear hugged.

 

Tsukishima pulled himself away as quickly as he could, Hinata on the other hand ended up in a fit laughter when Bokuto dramatically spun him around in the hug. Kuroo felt betrayed that he didn’t get a hug. He knew Bokuto wouldn’t even try to hug Kenma after the time he panicked and kneed Bokuto in the crotch. Kuroo brought it up from time to time much to the embarrassment of both boys.

 

“So my boyfriend gets a hug but I don’t?” Kuroo felt nervous saying the words out loud, but the look of shock of Hinata’s face made him want to laugh, the false shock on Bokuto’s did make him laugh.

 

“Wait, you’re gay?!” He whisper yelled. 

 

“Yeah, but don’t tell my boyfriend,” Kuroo whispered back, getting a giggle from Hinata and exasperated sigh from Kenma.

 

Bokuto immediately turned to look at Tsukishima, “Oi, Tsukki, Your boyfriend’s gay,”

 

Tsukishima stared at them for a moment before deciding to play along, “What? Kuroo, why didn’t you tell me?” He held his hand over his face in pretend shock, his still monotone voice  causing Bokuto to crack up. 

 

“I swear I was going to tell you!”

 

“Alright you dorks,” Kenma interrupted, “Enough of that,” he gave Tsukishima a look, “I expected better from you.”

 

That got a snort of laughter of Tsukishima despite his best attempts to remain poker faced.

 

Kenma walked towards the TV, “I’m guessing we’re doing the usual gaming competition?” Kenma asked, already turning on the TV. They did every time Bokuto came over. It was tradition that wouldn’t be broken any time soon.

 

“Yes!” Bokuto cheered, despite the fact that he lost every time. What he lacked in skill he made up with enthusiasm and funny commentary.

 

They decided on a racing game, but there was an immediate issue.

 

“There’s 5 of us, so we can’t all play,” Tsukishima pointed while Kenma was passing out controllers.

 

“Whoever comes in fourth gives their controller to whoever isn’t in?” Hinata suggested, though he looked very unwilling to give up his controller. Kenma gave his to Kuroo, deciding to sit out first round.

 

Kenma gave Bokuto and Kuroo a stern look, “No cursing, I’m not sure when my parents are coming home and I really don’t need another incident like last month,” 

 

As Tsukishima sat next to Kuroo on the couch, he asked, “What happened last month?” 

 

Kuroo didn’t really want to answer because wow it was embarrassing and he still couldn’t look Kenma’s mom in the eye. “Well, he got a little too heated and were practically screaming curse words back and forth at each other and didn’t hear his mom walk in. She heard us say a lot of inappropriate stuff before she even said she was there,”

 

“This is my first time coming back since then, I’m so glad she’s not home.” Bokuto hung his head in shame, but quickly enough perked back up when the game started.

 

Playing with those guys was… interesting.

 

Hinata was just as bad as Bokuto, moving around excessively as if it would help him turn better or dodge things. They were both very noisy, though Bokuto was a lot more insulting.

 

Kuroo couldn’t get onto them much since he was also noisy as well. He cheered loudly when he passed someone, yelled “GOD DAMMIT!” whenever he got passed or hit by an item. On more than one occasion Kenma or Tsukishima had to shush them.

 

While Tsukishima was quiet at first, he soon started becoming more into the game as time passed. He never yelled, but he’d make snide comments, and join in the banter. Whenever Kuroo lost his controller to someone else, he found himself watching Tsukki as much as the game. He seemed to be genuinely be enjoying himself.

 

Though Kenma stood out the first round, only once did he get knocked out again. After an hour, Tsukishima, Kuroo, and Bokuto decided to gain up on Kenma. While normally quiet, Kenma started to complain as every item was aimed at him. Though they almost made themselves lose in the process of trying to knock Kenma out, on the final lap they succeeded. 

 

“You’re all awful,” Kenma shook his head with a sigh, handing his controller to Hinata. He gave Kenma an apologetic smile, but seemed happy to get back into the game.

 

Soon enough, half the day was gone and Bokuto had to leave, “Your mom will be home any time now, thanks for letting me come over!” He laughed, “Was anyone keeping track of who had the most wins?”

 

“I think it’s safe to say Kenma won and Hinata lost,” Tsukishima said helpfully.

 

“Hey! I didn’t do  _ that  _ badly you ass!” Hinata pouted, “Everyone besides Kozume got switched out pretty regularly,”

 

Before Tsukishima could reply, Kuroo butted in, “Hinata’s right.” He walked over to Bokuto, “See you later, man.”

 

“Later my dude,” Bokuto gave Kuroo a brief hug before heading off.

 

They all settled back down on the couch after that to watch TV. Kuroo sat close enough to Tsukishima to where their shoulders pressed up against each other. It made him way too happy when Tsukki made no attempt to move. 

 

Hinata did something similar to Kenma, but it was more so because he wanted to see the game Kenma was playing on his phone. At some point Hinata had moved to where one arm was over Kenma’s shoulder and his head was resting on his other shoulder. Kuroo could tell by how relaxed Hinata was and his genuine interest in the game, he wasn’t trying to make a move on Kenma. Regardless, Kenma’s face was mildly pink and he was having a hard time focusing on the game.

 

“Would you push me away if I got cuddly with you like those two?” Kuroo asked in a low voice. Tsukishima gave Kuroo a look, then shook his head, even if he had to look away immediately when Kuroo smiled.

 

With a huff Tsukishima let his head rest on Kuroo’s shoulder. Kuroo put one arm around him and they were both stiff and embarrassed at first, but relaxed as they continued to watch the TV. Kuroo wished they weren’t so awkward with each other, but it’s not like they had a lot of time to get used to being physically affectionate. 

 

“Hey guys, it looks like my mom will be home late,” Kenma announced, “We should start making ourselves dinner,” 

 

As was playing games, cooking certainly was an experience with these guys. Kuroo was used to helping Kenma cook, but it was clear the other two boys didn’t have much experience cooking in a kitchen. Hinata had to be repeatedly corrected on how to properly cut vegetables, “No Shouyou! Do you want to lose your fingers?” And Tsukishima just… was so clueless. Sure he was a quick learner, but he didn’t know how to do things Kuroo thought everyone knew how to do.

 

Dinner came out messier than what it’d normally be if it was just Kuroo and Kenma, but they had fun. Even if both Hinata and Tsukishima ended up with burns on their hands. They were certainly embarrassed, but Kuroo told them not to worry about it too much.

 

After eating, Kuroo knew he should really be heading home, but it was hard to leave with Tsukishima here. They had gone back to watching TV, but Kenma and Hinata left. Kuroo forgot the reason, the fact the Tsukishima was about to fall asleep on him was very distracting.

 

“Hey, Kei,” Kuroo shrugged his shoulder a bit to keep Tsukki awake.

 

“Hmm?” Tsukishima mumbled sleepily, burying his face in Kuroo’s neck despite still wearing glasses. His pulse picked up at that.

 

Clearing his throat, Kuroo finally found his voice, “I have to go,”

 

With a yawn, Tsukki moved away from Kuroo, “What time will I see you tomorrow?” he asked, readjusting his glasses.

 

“Maybe noon? I’ll be up earlier, but I still need to get some schoolwork done,” Kuroo said. He hated the fact that he couldn’t spend more time with Tsukishima, but he’d still have several hours with him tomorrow. As much as he loved Tsukki, he liked having good grades.

 

“Same, I brought over some homework.” Tsukishima nodded, “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,”

 

Kuroo found himself leaning in towards Tsukki, but froze. Now Tsukishima was fully awake, eyes wide, “Are you gonna kiss me or not?” He sputtered out, face heating up.

 

Biting back a teasing comment, Kuroo leaned forward to press his lips against Tsukki’s before his nerves got to him. It was short and sweet, but with their minimal combined experience, it was to be expected.

 

“Wait, was that your first kiss?” Why Kuroo never asked if Tsukishima had his first kiss before, he didn’t know. It seemed like a question that should’ve come up by now.

 

“Yes. Was it that obvious?” Tsukishima wouldn’t meet Kuroo’s eyes. Kuroo was a sputtering mess after his first kiss, so he couldn’t really get onto Tsukki for being shy.

 

“Nah, just wondering,” He pecked Tsukki once more on the lips, “I have to go, my offer for you to stay at my house is still up. My parent’s would be fine with a sudden guest.”

 

To his disappointment, Tsukishima shook his head, “I might’ve, but someone just had to declare that I was his boyfriend.” He raised an eyebrow at Kuroo, “Hinata would assume a lot,”

 

“You’re no fun,” Kuroo sighed, “Alright, see you tomorrow then,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter!
> 
> Sadly I've been straying from Haikyuu!! But, if you're into BNHA, I have several fics for that fandom <3 and yes I'm shamelessly promoting myself xD
> 
> Thanks for all comments and kudos <3


	14. And so it comes to an end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No beta readers, we die like men.

Sleeping in the same room as Hinata wasn’t fun. The boy just… didn’t sleep. After getting up so early, Tsukishima expected him to be out the second he laid down on the mat Kenma had put out for him. That didn’t seem to be the case. Midnight was closing in and Hinata was still blabbering.

 

It didn’t even seem to matter that Kenma had fallen asleep during Hinata’s story about something that happened to him when he was little. Tsukishima never responded either, but Hinata was a weirdo who didn’t need a response to continue talking.

 

“Hinata.”

 

“It’s rude to interrupt.”

 

“Please just… shut the hell up.”

 

There was silence and Tsukishima let out a sigh of relief. A few minutes passed and he could tell Hinata had fallen asleep. He wondered if Hinata had fallen asleep trying to think of a retort. The thought brought a smile to Tsukishima’s face and in a matter of minutes he finally fell asleep himself.

 

Morning wasn’t very pleasant. Hinata was an actual bird and woke up at the crack of dawn to scream. Well, he didn’t scream, but the other two boys got up soon after he did. Hinata couldn’t be quiet to save his life. Kenma didn’t look any more happy than Tsukishima did about being woken up so early, but remained patient with Hinata.

 

Breakfast was simple, and they finally got the chance to talk to Kenma’s mother. She was a lot like Kenma, but wasn’t as shy. As they ate at the kitchen table, she openly talked to the two boys. It didn’t take long for her to figure out Hinata was Kenma’s soulmate when the topic came up. 

 

“So your sign is a tattoo of a calico cat?” She asked, before glancing at Kenma.

 

Hinata nodded enthusiastically, “Yup, can’t wait until a figure out who it is!”

 

She looked like she was about to laugh, but instead looked away and brought her cup of tea up to her face. With a snort, Tsukishima thought about how much she looked like a meme Bokuto used for a week straight.

 

“What about you?” Her intense cat-like gaze was slightly unnerving. Much like her son, she seemed to be very good at analyzing. “Kouzume said you were a friend of Kuroo’s, but friends don’t pay for a ticket and come down hours away from home to see someone they’ll see anyways.”

 

Talking about his feelings will never be something Tsukishima would like doing, but it’s not like he couldn’t answer her. “You got me. We’re soulmates.”

 

“Boyfriends,” Kenma corrected, slight smile tugging at his lips. 

 

Tsukishima fought down the blush and kept his face neutral. He was  _ not  _ going to blush in front of Hinata. He could deal with Kenma or his mother seeing that, but he was going to be stuck with Hinata until he graduated from school. He wanted that boy to have nothing he could bring up to embarrass him.

 

So, he nodded and calmly replied, “As of recently, yes, we’re boyfriends. I don’t know  _ how,  _ but I’m stuck with him.” 

 

“I’ve been saying the same thing for years,” Kenma sighed, earning a light smack on the arm from his mom.

 

“You two, be nice! Tetsurou is a great guy. Not often you find a guy with a good, humorous personality and brains. You two are both lucky to know such a guy.”

 

Suddenly, both Kenma and Tsukishima were very interested in their breakfast. It was more for comical purposes than anything, but it worked since Kenma’s mom let out a snort of laughter, shaking her head. “While you two are being mean, I am going to be getting ready for work. Stay safe, make sure the house is in one piece when I get home, uh, don’t throw a party.”

 

“I’m inviting the entire school over, we’re gonna do drugs and stuff,” Kenma said with surprising seriousness. 

 

She just sighed in response, “Of course you will, such a troublemaker I swear.” She ruffled his hair as she walked by, getting a small smile out of him even though he shooed away her hand.

 

Hinata had been too busy eating to respond but he managed a, “yourf mums nioce.” 

 

“Please don’t talk with your mouth full,” Tsukishima sighed in despair. Didn’t Hinata have a younger sister? He must be an absolutely  _ horrible  _ influence on her when it came to manners. Or maybe she was the influencer. It wouldn’t surprise Tsukki considering his childish behavior.

 

Kenma nodded in agreement, whether it was to what Hinata said or Tsukishima, it wasn’t clear. “My mom’s pretty chill.” He stood up holding his plate, holding out a hand towards Tsukishima. 

 

He gave Kenma his plate, mumbling “thank you”. Hinata stuffed the last of his breakfast in his mouth before handing over the plate. The way Hinata’s cheeks were puffed out reminded Tsukki of one of the black, bug-eyed, fish with the puffy cheeks. It was too early for bickering so he decided not to point that out.

  
  


“So, you’re doing homework and then going out on a date with Kuro, right?” Kenma asked as he rinsed off the dishes.

 

Tsukki nodded. “Yeah… do you think I could get him to come over here, or for me to go to his house to do homework together? We don’t have much time together.”

 

“Surprise him back, show up at his house while he still has top tier bed head and embarrassing pajama bottoms,” Kenma suggested with a smile. “He wouldn’t mind really.”

 

“Embarrassing pj bottoms?” Tsukishima questioned. “Can’t wait to see those.” He stretched as he stood, going back to Kenma’s room to grab clean clothes and a toothbrush to get ready.

 

Suddenly he wished he brought nicer looking clothing, but he supposed he what he had would normally be considered nice. It just, wasn’t  _ as  _ nice and good looking as it could be.  _ Kuroo already likes me, why am I being so fussy over my clothes?  _ Tsukki sighed quietly to himself, running his hands through his hair to tame the blond curls. He had forgotten a hairbrush.

 

Once he felt he was presentable enough, he left the bathroom and got Kuroo’s address from Kenma, “Try not to get lost, and try not to look like a clueless tourist,” Kenma said helpfully, typing the address into Tsukishima’s phone.

 

“If I got lost with something telling me exactly where to go, that’d be pretty sad,” Tsukki shook his head. “But I know someone here who could probably manage to.” The jab was directed towards Hinata, but if he heard, he didn’t respond.

 

“Do you want me to give you the correct address or not?” Kenma threatened without conviction, handing over Tsukki’s phone.

 

“Thanks, I’m heading out now.” He paused at the door and said low enough so Hinata couldn’t hear, “Good luck getting through to Hinata.” He meant it, Kenma was going to need every ounce of luck he could get.

 

Kenma just snorted, “Be back by seven, the train comes at eight. I’d say come back even earlier, but something tells me you want to spend every moment you can with him.”

 

With a nod, Tsukishima left the apartment. From time to time, he’d pull out his phone to make sure he wasn’t lost, but mostly paid attention to the city around him. It was so much larger than the small town he was from, seeing more people in a few minutes than he normally saw in weeks.

 

It was a little hard to pull his attention back to his main goal: seeing Kuroo. Eventually, he arrived to Kuroo’s apartment complex and walked up the stairs to get to his floor.  _ What if it isn’t fine coming over unannounced?  _ Tsukishima thought as he paused in front of the door,  _ I’m not Kenma.  _

 

Pushing down his nerves, Tsukishima knocked on the door. After a moment, the door opened and he was a little taken aback by the woman who answered. While she had tanned skin and black hair, and assuming she was his mother, she didn’t look much like Kuroo. Long black hair, perfectly kept in a neat braid, open and easy to read face. She struck Tsukki more as a good samaritan as opposed to Kuroo’s mischievous looking face. She looked a little young to be a mom, but it was possible Kuroo had a sister he hadn’t mentioned.

 

Swallowing nervously, Tsukishima introduced himself. “Hello, I’m Tsukishima Kei. Is Tetsurou home?” Well, he knew Kuroo was home, but it seemed like the polite thing to say.

 

She looked him over for a second. “Tetsurou described you perfectly, it’s nice to finally meet you!” She smiled brightly. “He’s doing homework in his room, but I’m sure he won’t mind a guest.” She stepped off to the side, allowing Tsukishima to walk in.

 

“So he’s been talking about me?” He asked, slipping off his shoes. 

 

She nodded, still smiling. “All the time, he said you were in Tokyo. I’m so glad I had the chance to actually meet you.” She talked as she walked, Tsukki following behind her with a small frown. Was she his sister or mom?

 

Knocking on the door, she waited for a, “yeah?” before opening the door. 

 

“Someone wanted to see you.”

 

Kuroo was sitting at a desk, but looked up expectantly, breaking out into a grin. “Couldn’t wait to see me, Kei?”

 

Had Kuroo’s… relative not been standing next to him, Tsukishima might’ve responded sarcastically, but he wanted to leave a good impression on whoever this was. “Yeah. Besides, if we’re both doing homework, why not spend some time together?”

 

“You don’t deserve a sweet boy like him, Tetsurou,” She sighed. “Call me if you need anything!”

 

“It’s an act! That boy has sass and salt for days!” Kuroo called after her. She laughed, but otherwise didn’t respond. 

 

Closing the door behind, Tsukki gestured vaguely at Kuroo’s room, “Where can I sit?”

 

“Floor, bed, and I’ll give up the desk if I have to, but yeah, take your pick,” Kuroo shrugged. “Honestly, I’m so glad you came over, I wanted to go over to Kenma’s house, but figured Kenma wanted to spend some time with Hinata.”

 

Tsukishima settled down on Kuroo’s bed, slightly stiff and awkward as he got out his homework. “I wished Kenma luck. Getting Hinata to understand he’s his soulmate isn’t going to be easy, much less the fact that I’m pretty sure Kenma also has feelings for him.”

 

“What about the shrimp, do you think he likes Kenma?”

 

“Oh yeah. But… not in romantic way it seems.” Tsukishima paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “I don’t know, he gets excited about getting to see and talk to Kenma, but never in a flustered sort of way if that makes sense.”

 

Kuroo nodded, “Hopefully that changes, poor Pudding Head has it bad for him.”

 

They fell into a slightly awkward silence as they worked on their homework until Tsukishima finally had to ask, “Was that your mom?”

 

“What? No, my sister.” Kuroo looked surprised, “Well, they look exactly alike, just different hairstyles, and of course my mom looks a little older.”

 

“You’ve never mentioned her before.”

 

“Really?” Kuroo smiled apologetically. “I thought I brought her up before, sorry. She doesn’t live at home, already has a job, seeing a guy, and doesn’t live nearby. I don’t see her often so, I guess I’ve just never had anything to say about her.”

 

“Any other siblings?”

 

“An even older brother with kids. I see him even less often than our sister. But we’ll all see each other again for the holidays.” Kuroo could talk as he wrote, something Tsukishima was a little jealous of. He had to have his attention on one thing or the other, multitasking just didn’t come easy to him.

 

Tsukishima didn’t reply so he could figure out the math problem he was on. 

 

“What about you, any other siblings I haven’t heard about?”

 

“Nope, just my older brother,” Tsukishima absentmindedly replied. He had a few cousins that often felt like siblings, but he didn’t want to get into that whole mess.

 

Homework took a lot longer than usual. Kuroo seemed to be more talkative than usual. Tsukishima didn’t mind though, it wasn’t even afternoon yet, so they’d have plenty of time for a date. Besides, spending time with him in person was nice. 

 

Eventually, Kuroo moved to sit on the bed as well when an assignment had to be done by laptop. While still mostly keeping to themselves, their legs crossed over. It was a casual contact, but somehow it seemed to be infinitely distracting to Tsukishima.

 

Kuroo finished his homework before Tsukishima and was practically hovering over him.

 

“Go away.”

 

“What, why?” Kuroo scooted back a bit regardless. “Just wanted to see if you needed any help.”

 

“Yeah, but with you staring over my shoulder, I’m gonna doubt my every answer,” Tsukki huffed. “I’ll ask if I need help.”

 

Kurro then proceeded to annoyingly stare at Tsukishima for several minutes.

 

Pushing his face away, Tsukishima sighed, “Look at your phone or something. I’ll finish a lot quicker without you staring, you weirdo.”

 

“I stare because I love you!”

 

“Shut it.”

 

“Aw, you’re blushing.”

 

“You are too!” Tsukishima shot back, praying that his blush would go away. He knew one day he’d get used to hearing and saying the words, “I love you” to someone who isn’t family, but today was not that day. Kuroo said it so easily. Judging by the blush on his face, he was still a little sheepish about saying the words aloud. On the other hand, the smile on Kuroo’s face ensured the fact that he meant it and didn’t regret saying it.

 

The second Tsukishima was done with his homework, Kuroo practically dragged him out of the house. He benevolently gave Tsukki enough time to pack his homework back into his backpack, but barely even that amount of time.

 

“Tons to see, Kei! Let’s go!”

 

“I need to put my shoes on!”

 

“Debatable.”

 

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, but allowed himself to be pulled along once his shoes were on.

 

Kuroo really wasn’t joking about their being tons to see. He took Tsukki to every spot he thought was cool. They were on and off the subway for the rest of the day. Not that Tsukki minded. In that time, Kuroo would talk about where they were going next, or they’d listen to music together. It was weird using an earbud after using headphones for so long. Tsukishima thought it’d be rude to put his headphones on though, so listening to music in a shared way was preferable. 

 

If Tsukki was honest, he could hardly remember the names of all the places they went to. Kuroo didn’t seem to know the names half the time, just, “this cool park by the this one fancy looking restaurant.”

 

With all the snacking they did as they went from place to place, they pretty much skipped over lunch. They stopped getting snack foods around 4 P.M. That only gave them three hours to until they had to head back to Kenma’s, but they were determined to actually sit down and have a meal before Tsukishima had to go.

 

When they finally choose a restaurant to eat at, Tsukishima’s feet were aching. Being on his feet was nothing new with all the volleyball he played, but they’ve been walking since just before noon. 

 

“Okay, it’s half past 6. Eating here is going to take about half an hour, and about another half hour to get home… Kenma said to come back by seven, right?” Kuroo calculated the time they had while waiting for the food they ordered to come to the table.

 

Tsukishima nodded. “Yeah, he said be back by seven.”

 

“Whoops.” Kuroo grinned. “Thank god you’re not a girl with a dramatically over protective father, or I’d be in big trouble.”

 

“Kenma does have a pretty good disappointed stare though,” Tsukishima reminded him. “You’re going to half to deal with that.”

 

Kuroo shrugged. “I’ve become immune to making Kenma disappointed. As long as we get back with enough time for you to get on the bullet train home, there’s no harm done.”

 

“Just because you said that we’re going to be even more late and I’ll miss the train,” Tsukki sighed. If it weren’t for school, he wouldn’t mind staying another day. 

 

“Maybe I jinxed it on purpose.”

 

“Well now that you’ve said that, everything will be fine.”

 

“But because you said that, no it won’t.”

 

Tsukishima opened his mouth to continue to argue back, but the waiter came back with their food. It saved him from continuing the repetitive argument.

 

“I want you to know that you’re very immature.”

 

“And yet you still like me,” Kuroo teased with a smile. The look on his face was grossly affectionate and Tsukki had to look away. Kuroo had been acting like that almost all day, but Tsukishima still wasn’t used to it. He wished that he didn’t jolt in surprise when Kuroo took his hand, or suddenly put his arm around him to take a picture, and just, a million other casually affectionate gestures. Kuroo didn’t seem to even think twice about them, but Tsukishima worried about him getting the wrong message when he didn’t make the same effort back to be affectionate.

 

If it really bothered Kuroo, it didn’t show. Which was a relief to Tsukishima because he didn’t want to get called out on it. He simply wasn’t comfortable enough to take the initiative. Hopefully that wouldn’t be the case forever and with a little more time he’d be more comfortable.

 

After dinner, they listened to music again. They switched between Kuroo and Tsukishima’s phone to listen to music. At some point, Kuroo’s head ended up on Tsukki’s shoulder and he did his best not to tense up because of it.

 

“Oi, Kei,” Kuroo murmured, making Tsukishima look down even though he couldn’t see Kuroo’s face. Instead he was met with Kuroo’s phone, the front camera trained on both of them. Kuroo snapped the photo before Tsukishima could properly react.

 

“Woah wait, we’re retaking that.”

 

“Alright.”

 

While Tsukishima wasn’t a huge fan of photos, this seemed like a nice moment to have a photo of. It wasn’t really anything significant, but the sort of casual photo that’d be nice to look back on.

 

When they got back to Kenma’s apartment, they were met with a glare.

 

“I said seven.”

 

“We’re not late.”

 

Kenma rolled his eyes and pointed at Tsukishima. “I suggest you back all your stuff quickly because we leave in ten minutes.”

 

Even while packing, Kuroo stayed by Tsukishima’s side.

 

“If I get the chance, I’ll visit you next time,” Kuroo promised.

 

“You don’t have to. Tokyo is a lot more interesting than my town I promise you.” Tsukishima wash trying to fold his clothes up neatly, but half way through he gave up and just stuffed the rest into his backpack.

 

“Still, I imagine it’d be a lot more relaxed than today. It’d be nice.” Kuroo smiled reaching over to grab a sock that just out of Tsukishima’s reach. “But with the end of the year approaching and college, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair in a tired way.

 

Tsukishima took the sock and shoved it in with the rest of his clothes. “We’ll figure things out. I don’t mind coming up to see you every now and then.” He looked around for anything else, but the room was left with only Kenma’s stuff and Hinata’s backpack sitting by the door.

 

With a nod, Kuroo was silent for a moment. “Do you mind if I kiss you goodbye now?” Kuroo quietly asked. “Before we’re in front of a lot of people and look like we’re out of a scene from some romance movie.”

 

Throughout the day, Kuroo never once made an attempt to kiss Tsukishima. It surprised him, but he was glad Kuroo hadn’t tried. Hand holding was one thing, kissing was another thing entirely.

 

Perhaps Kuroo wasn’t as confident as Tsukishima originally assumed.

 

When Tsukki nodded, Kuroo leaned in and pressed a soft kiss onto Tsukki’s lips. It wasn’t much better than the one yesterday, but Kuroo’s hand slowly going through Tsukishima’s hair and the overall gentleness of the kiss made it feel so much different. 

 

Even when their lips weren’t touching, Kuroo held Tsukishima close, foreheads resting against each other. “Thanks for giving me a chance after everything that happened.”

 

“Mm, you’re too hard to ignore. Thanks for no longer being such a stubborn ass about soulmates.” Tsukki cracked a smile. 

 

“We were having a moment Kei.”

 

“Neither of us can deal with emotions properly and you know it.”

 

Kuroo let out a snort of laughter. “Fair enough.” He kissed Tsukishima one more time.

 

“Okay you two, peel away from each other, it’s time to go.” Kenma said by the doorway, leaning over to grab Hinata’s bag. Something in his voice sounded a little sour. Tsukishima gave Kuroo a questioning look and he shrugged in reply.

 

* * *

 

It was sad to see Tsukishima leave. Kuroo had dragged out the day as long as he possibly could, but in the end he had no power to change the train’s schedule. 

 

Kuroo went back to Kenma’s apartment, mostly to ask him about what happened with Hinata.

 

It wasn’t like Hinata was acting off. He excitedly told Kuroo that him and Kenma were soulmates and remained high in energy the entire time. Kenma on the other hand seemed a little more toned down than usual.

 

“So, the shrimp knows that you two are soulmates, but you don’t seem very happy about it.” There were probably better ways to start up the conversation, but this seemed to be the most blunt approach.

 

“I am happy,” Kenma said half heartedly. “I just… I don’t think he’ll ever like me the way I like him. The way you and Tsukishima are.”

 

Kuroo sat down next to him, feet on the couch and faced towards him. “What makes you say that?”

 

Kenma was silent for a moment. “I asked him some questions concerning romance, and he has absolutely no interest. Not like he’s opposed to it or anything, but like he’s never even considered it. He says he finds Kiyoko pretty, but that’s it. No feelings, just gets flustered around someone attractive.”

 

“Well, maybe he’ll come around.”

 

Kenma shook his head and sadly smiled. “Honestly, I don’t think so. Which is… okay. Or will be, I just need some time to get over my own feelings. I’ll give him an actual confession one day to make sure, but I think we’re meant to be platonic soulmates.”

 

While Kuroo wanted to protest, he had a feeling Kenma was right. It was pointless to try and rise his hopes up. If he confessed to Hinata and his feelings were returned, then that’d be amazing. Kenma wasn’t acting cynical about this, but seemed to be coming to peace with the fact that Hinata might never like him romantically. Which was better to calmly accept it now than being heartbroken later.

 

“Romantic or not, he’ll probably be by your side the rest of your life.”

 

Kenma smiled again, a little more happy this time as he looked at Kuroo. “That’ll make two life long friends.”

 

“I’ve had enough sap for one day,” Kuroo blurted out. If he were honest, what Kenma said gave him a bunch of warm and fuzzy feelings along with the urge to give Kenma a crushing hug. Kenma didn’t appreciate crushing hugs though, so he refrained. “Thank you, though. You’ll always be my best friend.”

 

Kenma’s nose crinkled. “That’s even sappier.”

 

“Oh shut up,” Kuroo laughed.

 

Later that night, after Kuroo made sure to text Tsukishima to see if he got home safely, he laid in bed to think over the day’s events.

 

What was supposed to be a rather boring weekend had turned into an amazing day. He probably overwhelmed Tsukishima with sightseeing, but he wanted to make the day as memorable as possible. Somehow though, that one kiss in Kenma’s bedroom dominated his thoughts.

 

Scrolling through all the photos he’d taken that day, Kuroo couldn’t believe he had an actual model for a boyfriend. Tsukki wasn’t looking at the camera in most of the photos, but it caught genuine smiles and looks of awe on his face.

 

Just before he shut off his lamp, the words  **_Goodnight, Tetsurou,_ ** appeared on his arm.

 

**_Goodnight, Kei. I love you._ **

 

After a moment,  **_I love you too,_ ** showed up.

 

Relationships were complicated things, but Kuroo was confident they’d work everything out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEW YEAR NEW ME, YEEET
> 
> Okay in all seriousness, thank you guys for everything <3 I wanted this chapter to be better, more eventful and great. Sorry about that. I feel out of touch with the characters since it's been so long since I've watched Haikyuu!! And I feel like if I wrote this story nowadays, I could've written it so much better. But enough of my insecure rambles-
> 
> Also if you're wondering, Hinata is aroace. I was actually fully intending to end them being together, but someone talked to me months ago about how they imagined Hinata as aroace, so this happened on its own.
> 
> I imagine a ton of you have forgotten about this story after me taking nearly 2 years to finish it, but for those who've stuck around, I love you, thank you <3 <3 <3 Even if you haven't and your reading this way after I post, thank you for kudos, bookmarks, and comments.
> 
> I've strayed away and now pretty much only write for BNHA. But I do have another HQ fic planned that I'll write after the next season airs so I can get a feel for the characters again. It's a Tsukkihina body swap so that'll be tons of fun xD
> 
> Thank you again! Also, [this is my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/soiwanttobeaweebinsecret) I've had someone randomly message me once, so don't be shy to send me messages or asks :D I also accept ask prompts on tumblr (send me a ship and a prompt and I'll write it), so if you just wanna make me write smth and not chat, that's also a possibility xD

**Author's Note:**

> I hate to be that one person, but this is my first fanfic :D if there's any grammar errors, don't be afraid to point them out! I've made stories before and it's awful when I don't catch mistakes before I post.  
> Kudos and comments in general are welcomed :D  
> Hope you liked it! And don't worry, there will be more. I have it typed out, I just want to go over it more before posting :D  
> Also I have no clue why I chose that title, I'm not that creative


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